What about Lifecycle Assessment isn’t that what is most important in the very end, as only it speaks to true environmental impact?
  We agree, accurate Lifecycle Assessment, or LCA, is the goal that we should all be heading towards as it measures actual impact, creates the opportunity for establishing a baseline, and the tools contained within the eco index should steer you in that direction. However, unless you’ve become very adept at applying and using metrics, it probably is not the best place to start. We believe that we can address some of the ease of use, process integration and information challenges (primary vs. secondary data, standardization, capture, quality of data, storage and retrieval, etc.) as an industry collective and bring the entire industry community to an LCA way of thinking—instead of just a few. As the broader group addresses the challenges of data, if you follow the guidelines of the eco index first and indicators second, you should be on the right track to follow a faster and more rewarding progression towards metrics. If you are already comfortable with metrics capture and analysis, then it would be great if you use the evolving metrics tools to calculate your material and product footprints. Additionally, you should join with others at this stage to help improve the tools for the broader industry. You can do this by <joining the pilot> and make it clear that you intend to bring products to the metrics level.
 
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