A maker of polypropylene (PP) garden furniture is concerned that the competition is stealing market share by claiming that the 'traditional' material for garden furniture, cast iron, is less energy and \(\mathrm{CO}_{2}\) intensive than the PP. A typical PP chair weighs \(1.6 \mathrm{~kg}\); one made of cast iron weighs \(8.5 \mathrm{~kg}\).

a. Use the data for these two materials in Appendix A, Table A10, to find out who is right - are the differences significant if the data for embodied energy are only accurate to \(\pm 25 \%\) ?

b. If the PP chair lasts 5 years and the cast iron chair lasts 25 years, does the conclusion change?

Data From Appendix A Table A10

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Table A.10 Embodied Energy, Carbon Footprint and Water Demand