• - Seaweed absorbs 4x more carbon than forests

• - Few or no pesticides/fertilizers used

• - No or minimal land use

- Commonly recycled (but not universal)

- infinitely recyclable without quality loss

- Dirty production process 

Pros

- Grows fast!

- Absorbs carbon as it grows

- Few or no pesticides/fertilizers used

- Reusable

Cons

- Monoculture

- Potentially invasive

Pros

- plant-based material

Cons

- More expensive and poorer quality than petroleum plastics

- Releases methane in landfill

- Similar problems as plastic when littered

- PLA: Large-scale agriculture drawbacks

- Cork tree is a carbon sink

- Well managed cork forests harbor biodiversity

- Versatile alternative to plastic and leather

- Common alternative to petroleum

- Byproducts used in ethanol

- Monoculture is a concern 

- Often fed to livestock

- Versatile

- Common alternative to petroleum plastics in textiles

- Resource intensive (even when organic)

Pros

- Infinitely recyclable without quality loss

- Not reactive with other chemicals

Cons

- Very hard and expensive to recycle

- Takes millions of years to break down

- Large carbon footprint

- Returns nutrients to soil

- Few resources needed

- Grows fast

- Absorbs more carbon dioxide than average

Pros

- supports pollinators

- helps with allergies

- energy intensity

- No herbicides, pesticides

Cons
- lower species diversity of bees supported
-  not vegan

Pros

- Better than palm oil, environmentally

- Source plant are multi-purpose

Cons

- Many alternatives are resource intensive 

Pros

- Durable

- Overall mild life cycle impact

Cons

- Most are petroleum-based

- Litter, disproportionate end of life impact

- Some forms are toxic

- Some are more recoverable than others

- Frequent alternative to petroleum-based ink and candles

- Nutritious,  helps soil
- Monoculture (vegetarian/vegan can help: 80% of soy is produced to feed animals) 

- compostable

- deforestation

- Haircuts make sheep happy

- compostable

- not a vegan product

Lifecycle assessments account for the impact at every part of a material’s existence. It may consider things like:

-Carbon footprint

- Water use

- Byproducts

- land use

- Leftover residue

- Environmental pollutants

Terms:

- Cradle to Gate: Resource extraction to distribution

- Cradle to Grave: Resource extraction to disposal

- Cradle to Cradle:

LCAs may focus on the product as a whole or its individual components.

- Throwing away organic, biodegrable waste can produce methane, a potent greenhouse gas. This is more pronounced in developing countries; most developed countries have engineered landfills to prevent methane leakage.

- Coconut Oil

- Yeast (specifically, Palmless)

- Rapeseed (Canola)

- Sunflower Oil

- Heterotrophic Algal Oil

Palm Vs. Coconut Oil: What's the More Sustainable Choice? | Rainforest Journalism Fund 

PHA, polyhydroxyalkanoate: sugars from algae. Coating for the inside of paper cups and medical applications.

PLA, polylactic acid: sugars from corn and sugarcane. Used for disposable cutlery and a variety of packaging.

PET/PETE (#1) Polyethylene terephthalate. Frequently used in fabric fibers and beverage bottles. PET is the most widely recycled plastic, but only about 20% in the U.S. is recycled.

HDPE (#2) High Density Polyethylene Bags accepted at store drop-off locations

PVC (#3) Polyvinyl chloride. It is used in hundreds of products (like toys and packaging) but is considered the most hazardous plastic. It is a white, brittle, and insoluble. It comes in rigid and flexible forms. The flexible forms are created with harmful chemicals (lead, cadmium, phthalates, and more) that consumers can be exposed to. The manufacturing and disposal can produce dioxins. The starting material is a known carcinogen.

LDPE (#4) Low Density Polyethylene. Bags accepted at store drop-off locations

PP (#5) Polypropylene. PP is one of the safest plastics for human health. It is heat-tolerant, so it is unlikely to leach micro plastics when heated. Only about 1% of PP is recycled.

PS (#6) Polystyrene is available as a rigid plastic or expanded polystyrene foam (a.k.a. Styrofoam). One ingredient, styrene, is a possible carcinogen. It can leach into consumer’s beverages and food. Long-term exposure to small amounts can be neurotoxic, hematological (blood), cytogenetic (chromosomes), and carcinogenic. Workers producing styrene can breathe it in and suffer nervous system damage. Its production also releases ozone, an air pollutant.

Other (#7) All other plastics. The most common is polycarbonate (PC). It contains Bisphenol-A (BPA), a hormone disruptor, and should generally be avoided in large amounts (but is safe in smaller amounts).