185
planetary boundaries. It shows on the largest of scales and only slowly over years
whether all the measures by individuals up to national governments and international agreements show success in terms of slowing or reversing the trend of
increased environmental impact on a global level.
One important topic under discussion in the context of sustainable consumption
is shifting production to low income countries with potentially lower environmental
standards: Cheap products have often been criticized as increasing the environmental impact, as they allow for more consumption. If we moreover assume that the
most cheap products are so because the staff in their supply-chain are poorly paid
(next to general productivity increase), the cheaper products mean also a shifting of
parts of the income and hence consumption from middle or higher income countries
to low income countries, but also to richer people (in both low and high income
countries), since the cheaper products mean they have additional household income
available. As statistics show, the allocation of the available household income considerably varies depending on income level. The net effect of this consumption shift
still needs to be quantified.
4 Actors in Sustainable Consumption
and Their Possible Roles
4.1 Companies: Sustainable Products
As argued initially, the main sphere of influence for companies is the development
and production of goods and the operation of services. It is essential that the environmental performance of these goods and services is improved, based on their
functional unit. If these products change the available household resources, it is a
consumer choice what to do with any additional resources.
Still, companies might want to better understand the secondary consequences of
their products and how well the products meet the individual needs beyond the mere
function. This should help companies to be prepared for the discussion on sustainable consumption. In fact, many companies do parts of this analysis already: fashion
and lifestyle, time and space saving are key selling points in many product segments. The environmentally negative secondary consequences are however out of
the scope of the analysis. This also means that conflicts are to be expected between
offering an environmentally more efficient product with time-saving properties to
the consumer, while at the same time trying to avoid that this leads to secondary
consequences that party or fully compensate the environmental advantages of the
product.
A design for sustainable consumption would then be an extension of conventional Ecodesign by considering consumption-related secondary consequences,
and – as Hofstetter et al. (2006) argue – basic needs that require satisfaction. A first
step would be to provide quantitative information on the effect on the consumer’s
13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption
planetary boundaries. It shows on the largest of scales and only slowly over years
whether all the measures by individuals up to national governments and international agreements show success in terms of slowing or reversing the trend of
increased environmental impact on a global level.
One important topic under discussion in the context of sustainable consumption
is shifting production to low income countries with potentially lower environmental
standards: Cheap products have often been criticized as increasing the environmental impact, as they allow for more consumption. If we moreover assume that the
most cheap products are so because the staff in their supply-chain are poorly paid
(next to general productivity increase), the cheaper products mean also a shifting of
parts of the income and hence consumption from middle or higher income countries
to low income countries, but also to richer people (in both low and high income
countries), since the cheaper products mean they have additional household income
available. As statistics show, the allocation of the available household income considerably varies depending on income level. The net effect of this consumption shift
still needs to be quantified.
4 Actors in Sustainable Consumption
and Their Possible Roles
4.1 Companies: Sustainable Products
As argued initially, the main sphere of influence for companies is the development
and production of goods and the operation of services. It is essential that the environmental performance of these goods and services is improved, based on their
functional unit. If these products change the available household resources, it is a
consumer choice what to do with any additional resources.
Still, companies might want to better understand the secondary consequences of
their products and how well the products meet the individual needs beyond the mere
function. This should help companies to be prepared for the discussion on sustainable consumption. In fact, many companies do parts of this analysis already: fashion
and lifestyle, time and space saving are key selling points in many product segments. The environmentally negative secondary consequences are however out of
the scope of the analysis. This also means that conflicts are to be expected between
offering an environmentally more efficient product with time-saving properties to
the consumer, while at the same time trying to avoid that this leads to secondary
consequences that party or fully compensate the environmental advantages of the
product.
A design for sustainable consumption would then be an extension of conventional Ecodesign by considering consumption-related secondary consequences,
and – as Hofstetter et al. (2006) argue – basic needs that require satisfaction. A first
step would be to provide quantitative information on the effect on the consumer’s
13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption