8.2: Sustainable Consumption

8.2
Sustainable Consumption
Essential idea: Sustainable consumption focuses on reducing the use of resources in a product to minimize its environmental impact.

Designers develop products, services and systems that satisfy basic needs and improve quality of life. To meet sustainable consumption requirements, they must also minimize the use of natural resources, toxic materials and waste, and reduce emissions of pollutants at all stages of the life cycle.


It is not only the role of designers to create markets for sustainable products. Consumers need to change their habits and express a want and need for these products.

Consumer Attitudes and Behaviours
Consumer attitudes and behaviours towards sustainability can be classified into 4 groups:

• Eco-warriors

Actively demonstrate on environmental issues; is an individual who cares about our environment and the diversity of life forms so much that they want to take action. An eco-warrior can be someone such as non-confrontational as a tree sitter or someone who engages in direct action, ranging anywhere from planting tree spikes into trees on public lands, to keep the lumber industry from cutting them down, to sit-ins which occupy a corporate office.

• Eco-champions

Individuals or groups that champion environmental issues within organizations; attempt to introduce or create change in a product, process, or method that takes into account green or environmental issues; is a person who fights or argues for a cause.

• Eco-fans

Individuals or groups that champion environmental issues within organizations. They enthusiastically adopt environmentally friendly practices as consumers, an eco-fan will usually buy anything that is environmentally friendly and will never buy a harmful product.

• Eco-phobes

Actively resent talk of environmental protection; people who are against helping the environment and purposely go against ecological movements. They believe that the environmental problems are irrelevant to their lives or are blown out of proportion.

Eco-labelling and energy labelling schemes
Designers need to be aware of the criteria for different labelling schemes in order to design products that satisfy the criteria. Many eco- and energy labelling schemes have similarities, and international standardisation makes it easier for consumers to understand their meaning and compare products from different contexts.

Labels help consumers make informed choices and will go to benefit the environment.

• The European eco-label believes in sustainable development. They are based on the vision of greening non-food products all over Europe. The eco-label ‘norms’ are decided by the European Union Eco-labeling (EUEB).

• In Australia, Good Environmental Choice Australia (GECA)is committed to credible product information for sustainable development. It is the only environmental labeling program in Australia which indicates the environmental performance of a product during its complete life cycle.

• In the United States there is an eco label named Energy stars, which is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy that promotes energy efficient products and practices. The Nutriclean label means that products are tested

Creating a Market for Sustainable Products
Many shoppers want green products, but retailers and brand marketers are losing green scales at several key points along the path to a purchase. the largest opportunities to capture shoppers interested in green products involve building awareness, educating shoppers, making green products easier to find and recognise, enhancing in-store communications and inspiring shoppers at the store shelf. Ultimately it is the consumer's choice as to which products they will buy (often based on price alone).

• pricing considerations: ensuring the products proved value-for-money to the customer

• long term costs: having products that have long term considerations such as house insulation: it will save energy in the long run because people won't have to continuously pay for heating systems and it saves money for them as well

• stimulating demand for green products: convincing consumers that green products are of better quality and better towards the environment

• education: consumers need to be aware of the impact of poor environmental choices and how green products could reduct environmental impact.

Pressure groups
An NGO that influences pressure on the government to achieve changes in legal polices. They are not a market segment but they can influence the market and product cycle. These pressure groups are able to exert considerable influence to press for changes on these issues and to support or undermine the development of specific technologies, for example; GM food production. 

ADVANTAGES OF PRESSURE GROUPS:

1. keep governments more responsive to the wishes of the community, especially in elections.
2. able to express the views of minority groups in the community who might not otherwise receive a hearing.

DISADVANTAGES OF PRESSURE GROUPS

1. some pressure groups are just the voices of one person
2. some may be powerful but does not reflect the opinions of their organization's members

Lifestyle and ethical consumerism
Ethical Consumerism: The practice of consciously purchasing products and services produced in a way that minimises social and environmental damage, while avoiding those that have a negative impact on society and the environment.


Lifestyle Consumerism: A social and economic order and ideology that encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever greater amounts.

• Ethical consumerism: 
• buying products not harmful to the environment and society
• ethically produced products
• example. fair trade coffee (appropriate wages given to farmers, farmers have not been exploited into harvesting coffee)

• Lifestyle consumerism:
• includes customer behaviours
• lifestyle is a way to segment people into groups based on three things :opinions, attitudes, and activities

Implications of "take back" legislation
Take back legislation puts the impetus on manufacturers to deal with the product or waste at the end of its lifecycle. This can mean providing opportunities for recycling and collection, providing information to the consumer about disposal or directly dealing with the obsolete product.

LANDFILLS as a disposal site for most modern day products

Take back legislation is the legislation that holds manufacturers responsible for the environmentally safe recycling or disposal of their end-of-life products. They are expected to provide a financial and/or physical plan to ensure that such products are collected and processed.

• extended producer responsibility encourages designers to reduce 'design for the dump' products - Moore's Law
• eg making computers without PVC or toxic flame retardants; products that are designing to last

Implications on the design cycle

1. Designers
1. must consider the recyclability or re-use of materials
2. consider the design for disassembly
3. work within the cost constraints of the manufacturer
2. Manufacturers
1. must consider added costs
2. must have an interest in design for disassembly and recyclability
3. consider manufacturing techniques and material selection
4. must develop collection systems for their products
3. Consumers
1. extra costs may be passed on to consumers
2. must be responsible for returning the product(s)