As consumers we only see a small fraction of the life cycle of a product, and we're often very concerned about where it goes after we've used it, but what happens before that point? How is the product made, how is it transported, and what impact does all of that have on the environment?

Research Fellow Charnett Chau is an expert in Life Cycle Assessment. She talks us through how scientific techniques can help us assess the overall impact of a material on the environment. Meanwhile, Ruth Strange from Ethical Consumer magazine explains how the magazine determines which products to recommend to their readers.

Hosted by Alex Lathbridge.

Produced by Elisabeth Ratcliffe, Kathy Page and Hiren Joshi.

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