Patent ID: 7096084

Claim:
A method for formulating and producing a product for a specified functional use, comprising: (a) obtaining two possible formulas for the product, each formula having at least two chemical components; (b) for each component, separately environmentally classifying an environmental impact of the component for the functional use for a formula by the following process: (i) assigning that chemical component to a category based on a proposed functional use of the chemical component; (ii) comparing that chemical component to at least two environmental category-specific criteria associated with that category; (iii) assigning a class numerical value for each said criteria for that chemical component based on the result of the comparison; and (iv) combining the class numerical values assigned to that chemical component for each of the category specific criteria associated with the category for that chemical component; whereby the combination provides an overall environmental class for the chemical component for a formula; (c) with respect to each component in the first formula multiplying its environmental class times a number representative of its relative weight presence in the first formula; (d) summing the result of the step (c) multiplications for the chemical components in the first formula to provide an environmental grade for the first formula; (e) with respect to each component in the second formula multiplying its environmental class times a number representative of its relative weight presence in the second formula; (f) summing the result of the step (e) multiplications for the chemical components in the second formula to provide an environmental grade for the second formula; and (g) comparing resulting environmental grades for the first and second formulas, and based at least in part on the comparison selecting a formulation for the product and producing a product based on that formulation; wherein the method is performed at least in part without the assistance of a computer.