191
Expand this with information on the secondary consequences of consumption – to
enable those that are interested to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle have the
necessary information to do so and avoid negative secondary consequences and
hence largely or fully useless efforts. Edutainment TV programs might be one
suitable format to this aim, particularly to reach out to consumers.
While we could not address such topics in this chapter, we would like to point out
that the social and socio-economic impacts of consumption must not be forgotten
but need to be integrated into the analysis, next to the environmental impacts that
were the focus of this chapter.
The challenge ahead for humanity is truly one that needs the combined effort of
all actors, globally: The otherwise wanted and fostered increase in the eco-efficiency
and energy-efficiency counteracts sustainability, what Hofstetter et al. (2006) call
the “efficiency-trap”. In consequence and further amplified by continued population
growth, the absolute pressure on the environment is increasing, even though the
products’ environmental impact per functional unit is generally decreasing.
However, it depends on the choice of the individual consumer, i.e. each and any
of us, which lifestyle we adopt and how we meet our true needs with our available
household resources.
References
Becker GS (1976) The economic approach to human behavior. The University of Chicago Press,
Chicago
Case KE, Fair RC, Oster SM (2014) Principles of economics, 11th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, 816 pp
CSD (2004) “Every little bit helps…” Overcoming the challenges to researching, promoting and
implementing sustainable lifestyles, vol 48. Centre for Sustainable Development, University of
Westminster
Dragulescu A, Yakovenko VM (2000) Statistical mechanics of money. Eur Phys J B
17(4):723–729
Eckersley R, Dixon J, Douglas B (2001) The social origins of health and well-being. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
European Commission (2012) Life cycle indicators for resources: development of life cycle based
macro-level monitoring indicators for resources, products and waste for the EU-27. European
Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability. EUR 25517
EN. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. ISBN 978-92-79-26423-8
European Commission (2013) Recommendation (2013/179/EU) on the use of common methods to
measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations, Annex II (Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Guide
European Commission – Joint Research Centre – Institute for Environment and Sustainability
(2010) International reference life cycle data system (ILCD) handbook – general guide for life
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption
Expand this with information on the secondary consequences of consumption – to
enable those that are interested to adopt a more sustainable lifestyle have the
necessary information to do so and avoid negative secondary consequences and
hence largely or fully useless efforts. Edutainment TV programs might be one
suitable format to this aim, particularly to reach out to consumers.
While we could not address such topics in this chapter, we would like to point out
that the social and socio-economic impacts of consumption must not be forgotten
but need to be integrated into the analysis, next to the environmental impacts that
were the focus of this chapter.
The challenge ahead for humanity is truly one that needs the combined effort of
all actors, globally: The otherwise wanted and fostered increase in the eco-efficiency
and energy-efficiency counteracts sustainability, what Hofstetter et al. (2006) call
the “efficiency-trap”. In consequence and further amplified by continued population
growth, the absolute pressure on the environment is increasing, even though the
products’ environmental impact per functional unit is generally decreasing.
However, it depends on the choice of the individual consumer, i.e. each and any
of us, which lifestyle we adopt and how we meet our true needs with our available
household resources.
References
Becker GS (1976) The economic approach to human behavior. The University of Chicago Press,
Chicago
Case KE, Fair RC, Oster SM (2014) Principles of economics, 11th edn. Prentice Hall, Upper
Saddle River, 816 pp
CSD (2004) “Every little bit helps…” Overcoming the challenges to researching, promoting and
implementing sustainable lifestyles, vol 48. Centre for Sustainable Development, University of
Westminster
Dragulescu A, Yakovenko VM (2000) Statistical mechanics of money. Eur Phys J B
17(4):723–729
Eckersley R, Dixon J, Douglas B (2001) The social origins of health and well-being. Cambridge
University Press, Cambridge
European Commission (2012) Life cycle indicators for resources: development of life cycle based
macro-level monitoring indicators for resources, products and waste for the EU-27. European
Commission, Joint Research Centre, Institute for Environment and Sustainability. EUR 25517
EN. Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg. ISBN 978-92-79-26423-8
European Commission (2013) Recommendation (2013/179/EU) on the use of common methods to
measure and communicate the life cycle environmental performance of products and organisations, Annex II (Product Environmental Footprint (PEF) Guide
European Commission – Joint Research Centre – Institute for Environment and Sustainability
(2010) International reference life cycle data system (ILCD) handbook – general guide for life
Open Access This chapter is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
Noncommercial License, which permits any noncommercial use, distribution, and reproduction in
any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
13 From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption