EPEAT

EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) is a system that rates electronics based on environmental attributes in the lifecycle of individual products. The ratings work on a scale of three: Gold, Silver or Bronze (based on which criteria the product meets). Products are measured against all criteria. If a products meets all of the required criteria, it receives a Bronze rating. If it meets all required and at least 50% of the optional criteria, it receives a Silver rating. And finally, if the product meets all required and at least 75% of the optional criteria, it receives a Gold rating. The criteria includes environmental categories such as:

• Reduction/elimination of environmentally sensitive materials
•  Material selection
•  Design for end of life
• Product longevity/life extension
• Energy conservation
• End-of-life management
• Corporate performance
• Packaging
• Consumables
•  Indoor air quality

EPEAT criteria is mostly applicable to individual products, but is also applied to corporate programs and services. Its categories are based on the IEEE 1680 family of Environmental Assessment Standards.

The EPEAT label is a checkmark that says “EPEAT” inside:

There are a few issues with this label. First of all, this label is for electronics and there is nothing in the label that represents electronics. A checkmark doesn’t really represent anything at all besides being certified in something, but there is no indication as to what that may be. Second of all, the label is supposed to represent how “green” the product is. Although the standard label is green, the color changes from bronze, to silver, to gold, depending on how much criteria the product meets. A brown checkmark on a product gives no indication of environmental friendliness. And third, consumers have no idea what EPEAT stands for. It’s an unknown acronym that nobody is quite familiar with yet.

I have designed a new EPEAT label:

My new design is a simple circuit with a leaf in place of the lightbulb. This design gives clear indication of the electronic aspect of the label, as well as the “green” aspect, despite the changing color of “EPEAT.” The color scheme remains the same to correspond with the Bronze, Silver, and Gold ratings. This new design will help communicate to consumers what the label means, even if they have no idea what EPEAT stands for. My new Unique Sustainability Selling Proposition is “Sustainability is more than circuit deep.” This USSP conveys how sustainability can be incorporated into all aspects of electronics, and EPEAT helps identify just how “deep” each product’s sustainability is.


http://www.ecolabelindex.com/ecolabel/epeat
http://www.epeat.net/resources/criteria/#tabs-1=overview