Bringing together Handprinting requirements and the additional considerations laid out above to further prompt navigation of Handprinting exploration, we offer some questions that manufacturers can consider at this stage:
Have we done all we can do right now to reduce the product Footprint? This is the most cost-effective place to start!
Does our Handprint idea also create changes outside the scope of our product’s cradle-to-gate Footprint? Often manufacturers first suggest ideas for Handprints that bring Footprint reductions. This is great, as Footprint reductions make your achievement of Net Positivity a lighter lift. Reducing your Footprint means reducing the quantified impact of a process or decision that the manufacturer has direct control over, where it is the “actor” behind the “action,” and corresponds to the cradle-to-gate portion of the product life cycle. It may also result in improvements to a company’s triple bottom line!
Is the Handprint idea measurable? In units that you can compare to your Footprint? If you can’t measure it, you can’t compare it to your Footprint, so it may be real but it won’t count within LPC. Also, you want to be sure that your action has had its intended effect.
Is it additional or business-as-usual? Consider if this is something that your company has already implemented that the action is just continuing. That’s business-as-usual. Is this you taking new action that will result in change that wouldn’t have been seen otherwise? That’s a Handprint. The recycling program you implemented 5 years ago? It’s awesome, but at this point it’s BAU. Handprints are not a ‘one and done’ effort. To maintain Net Positive, you have to keep creating them.
Have you considered the Footprint of your Handprint? Be sure to examine the ‘Footprint’ of your Handprinting action – if you’re installing energy efficient lightbulbs, you must also consider the Footprint of manufacturing that lightbulb and subtract it from Handprinting impacts. Often it won’t significantly reduce your Handprint, but we want to be accurate here!
Does your Handprinting action have any unintended consequences or increase your Footprint elsewhere? Footprints and Handprints generally create impacts across all LCA impact areas, so consider when you explore Handprinting to become Net Positive for Water if it unintentionally increases your Energy Footprint. This doesn’t mean you can’t use that action, but it could make it harder to achieve Net Positive Energy.
Can the action scale to offset your Footprint? Some ideas seem cool and exciting in theory, but they don’t have the impact you thought they would in practice. You can put into place as many Handprinting actions as you want, but efficiency and cost matters. Which brings us to the next question:
What will it cost to put into action? Related to the above, will the cost become an insurmountable obstacle when scaling to the level required to offset the Footprint? Is some of that funding better utilized in implementing process improvements to first decrease the Footprint? Is there a way to tell an exciting story about your Handprint, but offset some of your impacts with more cost-efficient measures?
Does the action have a story, or reason for engaging in this manner? Think ahead to your story at the end. Why did you do this action? What does it mean? Why does giving back in this way matter? Does it tie into the story of your company or the product somehow? Who or what has been impacted by this work?
For some manufacturers, the calculations that demonstrate a Net Positive impact may be enough and context isn’t required to achieve Net Positive Water, Carbon or Energy; but for some manufacturers the stories and the qualifiable impacts can resonate with leadership, employees, customers, internal and external stakeholders and beyond. Get your marketing team involved!
Does it align with any other goals you have? For example: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, corporate carbon neutrality goals, internal employee engagement, etc. Aligning your Handprints with company-level goals can help with cost and leadership buy-in.
Is that implementation the best use of that Handprint? Context is important to consider; for example, does saving water in a rain-heavy area matter or introduce appreciable positive impact? Do waterways need cleaning up? Is water quality a significant issue in a region? If you’re going to put in the work, you should consider how to create the most positive impact per gallon.
Who will put the Handprint into place? Who will track its impact? It’s smart to think comprehensively, and long-term. Consider how to build Handprinting impacts, as well as any funding required for those actions, into your business structure. Can you build water Handprint costs into the product price without significantly increasing cost? Consider which employees or departments can make sure that Net Positive is not a one time achievement, but a way of doing business. Also consider who will track the impacts, and how.
Who have you consulted to get ideas for Handprints? LPC and the requirements for Handprinting are rigorous, but they are also opportunities to get creative and build employee engagement. Some of the best ideas for sustainability will come from your colleagues in all areas of the business- from marketing, to facilities management, to engineering and beyond.
Are there opportunities for collaboration? Consider if there are like-minded companies out there who might be interested in taking action with you. It’ll be both of your Handprints if you do (Handprints represent shared credit, just like Footprints represent shared impact). Perhaps other tenants of a building may be able to help convince building management to install solar or renewable systems? Could you partner with a school to install renewable energy and have your efforts go further and support the local community?
Are there opportunities for ripple effects? Manufacturers can also consider how Handprints can be designed to create further positive impacts beyond an initial action — designed for ripple effects. With clever program design, a single initial investment or action can lead to exponentially growing ripple effect Handprints. For example, capturing a portion of the economic savings that result from increased energy efficiency and re-investing them in the purchase of more energy efficiency measures in other homes — If the savings from each investment are greater than the initial investment, this can lead to self-amplifying ripple effects, as one investment leads to two more which can continue impacting more investments. An initial Handprinting investment creates abundance, some of which is harnessed to create more abundance, and so on. Because all the follow-on investments are co-caused by the initial investment, the impacts of these follow-on investments are part of the initial investment’s Handprint.
Are there opportunities for social co-benefits? For social justice co-benefits? When considering and identifying potential impacts resulting from Handprinting actions, companies may also want to think about how to position their business as an agent of positive social change. What potential, or duty, does a manufacturer have to intentionally design actions that benefit the local community, disadvantaged or disenfranchised groups, people with lower socioeconomic status?
