Life Cycle Analysis Project – Final Paper

After an entire semester of studying sustainability and environmental aspects of product development, production, and disposal, I have finally gained enough knowledge to compose a case study on the complete life cycle of cowboy boots. It includes details of a LCA and why it is important to understand what exactly goes into and comes out of a product.

The following link is for my Life Cycle Analysis Paper on cowboy boots:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByXNDe4nLYSnY2RRQ05VM2FsWG8&authuser=0

Life Cycle Analysis Project – Life Cycle Assessment

In continuing my research on cowboy boots for the Life Cycle Analysis project, attached is a life cycle assessment flowchart for a pair of cowboy boots. It includes the raw materials/energy and emissions associated with material production, materials/energy and emissions associated with product manufacture, product uses and maintenance, and finally product disposal.

The following link is for my Life Cycle Assessment on cowboy boots:

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0ByXNDe4nLYSnZEl6Szl4TmZDMmc&authuser=1

Life Cycle Analysis Project – Fact Sheet

For the Life Cycle Analysis project, I chose an item that almost every American owns a pair of, whether they are used for their intended purposes or for fashion purposes: cowboy boots. Originally custom-made items, these popular western items have become timeless. They were used as early as the Civil War and are still used by many today, both in the saddle and on the runway.

The following link is for my Fact Sheet on cowboy boots:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByXNDe4nLYSndkpIODdmdEpTZms/view?usp=sharing

Traffic Survey – 4641 Presidential Pkwy, Macon, GA 31206

Although it has been pretty chilly lately, I observed the passing traffic on a beautiful Wednesday afternoon while sitting outside McAllister's Deli and enjoying some lunch. What I came to observe did not necessarily shock me, but I was somewhat surprised at the results of my one-hour survey.

Before I sat down to begin surveying the passing cars, I had some ideas in mind about what I might observe. Since the cars were driving through a rather large commercial shopping area, I expected:

•  most of the vehicles to pass by would be cars of various sizes (and not trucks);
• most of the vehicles to be older or more dated models, due to the surrounding area's population demographics (ex: low household income);
• a wide range of new and old cars
• mostly small or medium-sized vehicles, due to the surrounding area's population demographics (ex: low household income);
• and the vehicles to have anywhere between one to four passengers, due to the surrounding area's population demographics (ex: higher frequency of households with two or more people).

Because I was conducting the survey myself, it was difficult to observe and assess every single passing car on that busy afternoon. I was only able to record about 1/5 of the total passing traffic from 2:30pm-3:30pm. Despite inevitable human error that comes from conducting a survey, I feel that my results are pretty representative of the population in that area as a whole. My observations can be seen in the following chart:

Car/Truck	Vehicle Model	Vehicle Age (New/Old)	Vehicle Size (S, M, L)	# Occupants
T	Ford	O	L	1
C	Toyota	O	L	1
C	Nissan	N	L	2
T	GMC	N	L	1
C	Jeep	O	M	1
T	Toyota	N	L	1
C	Chevy	O	M	1
C	Dodge	O	M	1
C	Saturn	N	M	1
C	Toyota	N	S	2
C	Chevy	N	S	1
T	Dodge	O	L	1
C	Toyota	O	S	2
C	Mercedes	N	S	1
C	Honda	O	S	1
C	Honda	O	S	1
C	Nissan	O	M	1
C	Nissan	O	S	1
C	Jeep	N	M	2
T	Toyota	O	M	1
C	Lexus	O	M	1
C	Chevy	O	L	1
C	Ford	O	M	1
T	Ford	N	L	1
T	Chevy	O	L	1
C	Nissan	N	S	1
C	Buick	N	S	1
C	Mercedes	O	S	1
C	Chevy	N	S	1
C	Honda	O	S	1
C	Honda	N	S	2
C	Chrysler	O	S	1
T	GMC	N	L	1
C	Ford	O	L	2
T	Chevy	N	L	2
C	VW	N	S	2
C	Toyota	O	M	2
C	Ford	N	S	1
C	Honda	O	M	1
C	Ford	N	M	2
C	Pontiac	O	S	1
C	GMC	O	M	1
C	Toyota	N	M	1
T	Chevy	O	L	1
C	Mercedes	N	L	1
C	Dodge	O	M	1
T	Chevy	N	L	1
C	Honda	N	M	1
C	BMW	N	S	2
C	Chevy	N	S	1
C	Dodge	N	S	1
C	Lexus	O	M	1
C	Toyota	N	S	1
C	Honda	O	M	1
C	Honda	O	S	1
C	Dodge	N	S	1
T	Dodge	O	L	1
C	Chevy	O	M	2
C	VW	N	S	1
C	Acura	O	M	2

 

As you can see, some of my results were in line with my predictions and others were more surprising. As predicted, the majority of vehicles passing by were cars and not trucks. In regards to vehicle models, about half of the vehicles were Japanese-made and only about a quarter of them were American-made. This was not surprising either because Japanese cars tend to have a higher market share in America today than American cars. I was slightly surprised at the nearly-even split between "old" and "new" vehicles. While many of the old cars were very old (pre-2000s), many of the new cars were also very new (post-2012). Car size was spread pretty evenly between "small", "medium", and "large" vehicles. Multiple times, I saw both older and newer versions of the same vehicle model pass by, and in many of the instances when the models were medium- or large-sized vehicles, the newer versions were larger than the older versions. This trend might be due to the fact that Americans are known for driving larger vehicles than the rest of the world, and car manufacturers might be trying to satisfy American consumers' wants and needs when it comes to vehicles by making them "bigger and better" than their previous versions. The last asset of the study was the number of occupants per vehicle. This is where I was most surprised. Less than 25% of the vehicles I observed had more than one person in the car. Whether the single passengers were running errands, getting lunch during their work break, or driving to meet somebody, their cars were emitting the same emissions than they would have been if they were carpooling with other people. It might not be as convenient to carpool with people to and from work, school, or the grocery store, but it has the potential to seriously reduce carbon emissions, which is important in today's world of rising world temperatures and drastically changing climates.

One thing that I did not account for in the survey but was surprised to see nonetheless was the rarity of hybrid or electric cars. Back home in Atlanta, electric cars, such as the Nissan Leaf, have become very popular. Whether electric car owners bought the car to be more environmentally-friendly or to make a statement about their "conservative efforts", hybrid and electric cars are the future. As we continue to deplete the fossil fuel reserves around the world, people are turning to alternative methods of energy and transportation.

In conclusion, this traffic study gave me some useful insight about vehicle characteristics and use in the Macon area. It was not a difficult study to carry out, and the results reminded me that our assumptions are not always accurate.