My Personal Energy Label Dilemma
Personally I welcome any initiative that helps me, as a normal consumer, make better, more sustainable choices. But I'm not quite sure the European Union Energy label is doing just that.
In general people don't have the time, means or knowledge to analyse the life cycles of the products they put in their shopping carts. The European Union has introduced labels to make our lives simpler and help us make better choices. But I’m not quite sure of that. My dilemma is caused by three issues.
The European Union Energy labels are an indication of electrical energy consumption or carbon dioxide production. My first issue is that energy consumption and carbon dioxide production are not the only aspects determining a products footprint. Other aspects that define the durability of products are disregarded. The focus on electrical energy and carbon dioxide production probably was a practical consideration. Energy consumption and CO2 production are, in general, easy to measure and less expensive to ascertain than a complete life cycle analysis. In the European Unions defence, energy consumption for many products is a good indication of it’s footprint.
My second issue is that these labels do not encourage the comparison of options from different product categories. For instance, for most people a clothes dryer will do just fine, a simple non energy consuming rack on which you can hang your wet garment to dry. With the energy consumption criterion in mind, this alternative is a significant better option than any A-label tumble dryer, but the label does not point this out.
Third and last, some product categories are divided in classes or subcategories, which make comparison difficult. In the case of cars, the labels are an indication of carbon dioxide production, but the cars are categorised by length. This means that a car wit an A-label from the smallest class probably consumes significantly less fuel and produces less carbon dioxide than a car from a larger class with an A-label. Again, the label does not point this out.
Is the energy label helping me be sensible or is it just southing my mind? I'm afraid it is tempting to rely on the label and not worry about what it's really worth. I think the label needs to be taken to the next level. Turn it into an initiative that really is a step forward. A label like an executive summary, which allows me as a common consumer, with no specific knowledge or skills, to make better choices. A transparent and easy to read label based on a complete set criterions with absolute values. So I can compare products within the product category and with alternative product categories. So I'll feel positive, well informed and confident about the difficult decisions I made with the help of these labels, in a just few minutes.