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The inspiration to the present web-site arose from the courses "Lifecycle Assessment of Products and Systems" and "Eco-Design and Manufacturing System" in Asian Institute of Technology where a simple introduction to lifecycle assessment was needed for the first lectures. However, the site has been prepared for a broad audience and anyone who like to have a basic idea about how products impact natural systems can benefit from a study tour. A complex story Even a simple product like a whiteboard marker has a complex story of interactions with natural systems and the full story is probably not known by any single person,
Thus, the purpose of this site is not to provide a complete description of every detail in any whiteboard markers lifecycle, but rather to highlight some of the most important interactions, and to present the information in a fairly simple way. For a deeper understanding of production and disposal processes, health effects of emissions, transformations in the environment, effects in the environment etc. please refer to the specific literature on each subject in the reference list. Although this site uses a whiteboard marker to illustrate, it does not refer to any specific product from any particular producer. Photographs and diagrams have only been selected based on their illustrative value. Internet communication An increasing number of people in developing countries have access to the Internet - whereas access to books is still limited due to lack of finance and academic infrastructure, bookstores and libraries. With a web site probably a broader group of interested persons can be reached globally. Furthermore, the infrastructure of a web site allows the subject to be presented in a dynamic way, illustrating a complex mass of inputs and outputs and interrelated processes, interactions and consequences - free from the printed medias inherent linear structure. The
site has been optimized for Microsoft Internet Explorer. In this
browser, click F11 to get full screen during the study. |