Release Date: Thursday, July 14th
What has been updated?
HowGood has updated product impact calculations to include water’s contribution as an ingredient to the product. Previously, a product's impact was calculated by taking into account the impact of all ingredients except water. The purpose was to prevent water from overriding the impact of the other ingredients, especially in water-concentrated products. However, including water as an ingredient will now provide a more accurate understanding of a product’s impact.
How does this update affect product impact metrics?
Water generally tends to score well on the sustainability metrics that comprise the HowGood Impact Score:
Water is good for Biodiversity, Soil Biodiversity and Land Use since extracting water typically does not disrupt existing terrestrial habitat.
Water scores well on Processing and GHG Emissions because the method of pumping water from its source is efficient in terms of the CO2e emitted per kilogram of water.
From a Labor Risk perspective, water management is not a high-risk industry, in terms of the severity of average working conditions and the number of individuals affected.
Water scores well on Blue Water Usage since excess water is not extracted from freshwater resources in order to grow or raise a secondary ingredient.
Water does not affect Animal Welfare, which is only relevant for animal and seafood ingredients.
How does water as an ingredient affect sustainability attributes?
Customers that have access to sustainability attributes may see changes to their products’ achievement of those attributes:
Climate Friendly - Because water scores well on GHG Emissions, some products may now achieve this attribute.
Clean Label - If a Clean Label product has 7 ingredients in addition to water, it may now lose this attribute.
Minimally Processed - No impact
How have impact scores been affected?
Only products that have water as an ingredient will be impacted. The update affects all metrics except for Animal Welfare,
For most products, this update has resulted in a positive change in impact scores. All other products will see no change to their scores.
A product’s overall score will be weighted by the proportion of water compared to other ingredients. For example, a product that contains 90% water and 10% orange juice concentrate will have the overall score weighted with 90% water as an ingredient.
What is HowGood’s approach to research and metric updates?
HowGood is dedicated to not only employing the most widely-accepted methodologies in the industry but also ensuring that the latest scientific research is incorporated. HowGood draws on a variety of accredited data sources, keeps track of any updates to scientific research, and periodically reevaluates how sustainability metrics and impact are measured. Metrics and impact assessments are updated accordingly, on an ongoing basis, making HowGood’s platform the leading-edge tool for product sustainability. In turn, HowGood is able to provide impact assessments that are always accurate, comprehensive, and the most up-to-date.