When you have created a product in Pickler, either by using the Product Form or the Product Upload template, and is accessing its Impact Report, you will be greeted with the following overview:
But if you're new to Pickler, or not sure what to make of it, then we've added the breakdown below to let you know what to look for:
Impact Data: Below the product details of your product you will find the three key impact metrics that has been calculated on your product. They are:
Total Carbon Footprint: The overall greenhouse gas emissions associated with your packaging across its entire lifecycle, expressed in CO2 equivalents (CO2-eq) and also in eco-costs (€).
Total Eco-costs: A single euro (€) value representing the total environmental damage across various impact categories (resource scarcity, ecosystems, human health, climate change). Think of this as the hidden environmental cost.
Environmental Impact Score (Eco-Score): A simple A+ to G rating summarizing your packaging's overall environmental performance based on the eco-costs.
Impact per Life Cycle Stage: This section breaks down the Eco-costs (€) and Carbon Footprint (CO2-eq) for each stage of your product's life:
Raw Materials: Impact from extracting and processing the materials.
Production: Impact from the manufacturing processes.
Transport: Impact from moving materials and the finished product.
End-of-Life: Impact from disposal, recycling, or composting.
Individual Impact Categories (Breakdown of each Lifecycle Stage): Under the "Impact per lifecycle stage" section, you toggle between Carbon footprint and Eco-costs. If you switch to Eco-costs, you'll get the breakdown of environmental costs for each lifecycle stage, but also split into an overall cost, as well as a split between four categories. These are:
Nature: The eco-costs associated with the impact on ecosystems, including biodiversity loss, deforestation, and water pollution.
Human Health: The eco-costs related to the effects of pollutants on air and water quality, and the resulting impact on public health.
Material Scarcity: The eco-costs associated with the depletion of non-renewable resources like metals, rare earth elements, and fossil fuels.
Climate Change: The eco-costs associated with the contribution of greenhouse gas emissions to global warming.
Product Journey (Visual): A visual representation of the transport stages throughout your product's lifecycle.
About Pickler: A section where Pickler's information and sustainability mission are displayed.
Claims and Credibility: Explains why Pickler's results are credible and aligned with anti-greenwashing regulations, with links to relevant articles.
Interacting with Your Impact Report:
Now that you've gotten acquainted with your Impact Report, what can you actually do with it? Here are a few things you can do to interact with it:
Adjusting Measurement Units: In the top right corner, you can change the displayed metrics from "per kg" to "per piece" to see the impact of a single unit of your packaging, or vice versa.
Measuring Multiple Iterations: To see the impact of a specific quantity of your product (e.g., a box of 12), you can adjust the number of pieces in the top right corner before sharing or reviewing the total impact.
Editing Your Product: To modify the data that influences the impact report, click the "Edit" button in the top right corner. This takes you back to the product form, from where you can freely edit your product. Make your changes and save; the Impact Report will update automatically.
Using for Comparison: From the Impact Report, you'll often find a button or link to initiate a comparison. This allows you to directly add the current product to a new or existing comparison with other products in your portfolio or scenario products.
Sharing Your Report: The "Share" button in the top right offers various options:
Share via an active link: Creates a live, auto-updating link to your report.
Share via a personalized QR Code: Generates a QR code that links to the report.
Share via PDF: Downloads a static PDF version of the report.
Share via impact widget: Provides code to embed a simplified impact score on your website.
By understanding these elements, you can effectively interpret your Pickler Impact Reports and use them to inform sustainable decisions and communicate your environmental performance.