Companies want to promote their efforts to be more "sustainable". But what does this mean? There is no hard and fast definition, so what being sustainable means to a company is open to some interpretation. Many companies start their quest to me more sustainable by looking at the life cycle environmental impacts of their products. The focus is not only on is this a great product, and is it helpful to users to reduce energy use, or in some other way to be "green" but on what are the manufacturing, distribution, and ultimate disposal impacts as well. These are all part of the life cycle of products. ENN provides news related to Life Cycle Assessment, and for 2010 is a media sponsor of LCA Sustainable Product Design USA 2010. This conference has evolved to meet the demands of today’s CSR, Environmental Affairs Strategists and for the first time engineering and product design experts as well. - 15% Discount for ENN readers -

As the contradictions of Asia’s water challenges have been laid bare this summer—with millions affected by flooding while others are hit by droughts—one thing has been made clearer: the coming water crisis could exacerbate already simmering domestic and regional tensions. Heavy monsoon rains have produced the worst flooding in Pakistan’s history, with more than three weeks of flooding leaving at least 1,500 dead and more than 4 million homeless. Millions of Pakistanis already require humanitarian assistance, yet the likelihood that many more could be added to this list has grown with the announcement that 200,000 have been evacuated as flood waters continue to rise in Singh Province in the country’s south. Meanwhile, flash floods and mudslides have submerged some villages in China’s Gansu Province, killing hundreds and leaving more than a thousand missing. Today, Chinese state media announced 250,000 had been evacuated in the north of the country after the Yalu River burst its banks.