Summary
This study used a life cycle assessment approach to evaluate the environmental impact of Green Food certification of cucumber in the Beijing area. The authors examine eight categories of environmental impact including global warming potential, energy depletion, water depletion, acidification potential, aquatic eutrophication, human toxicity, aquatic toxicity, and soil toxicity. They found that Green Food Certified cucumber had a larger negative environmental impact overall compared to conventional cucumber, mainly due to higher fertilizer use.