If we are concerned about Global Climate Change, and are sincere in attempting to reduce our energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse gases, we must ensure that we compare the total energy consumption and emissions over the entire life cycles of current products and any proposed alternatives rather than just the actual period of usage. We must evaluate and compare the energy consumption and emissions during the total production cycle of the product and its components, the packaging, transportation, distribution and retailing, usage and finally the disposal/recycling at the end of its useful life. To do otherwise can be both misleading, or dishonest, and may result in the adoption/promotion of products that do more harm than good.