Life cycle assessment (LCA) is a tool to assess potential environmental impacts throughout a product's life cycle, i.e., from natural resource acquisition, via production and use stage to waste management (including disposal and recycling). The term 'product' includes goods, technologies, and services. LCA is a comprehensive assessment that takes a product life cycle perspective, and covers a range of environmental impacts. These unique features of LCA facilitate avoiding problem shifting from one life cycle stage to another stage, or from one environmental impact to another impact. This article gives a short methodological overview.