Who's Happier – The Proactive Lohas or the Spontaneous Hedonist?
April 9, 2013The perception that pro-environmental behaviour has negative effects on well-being has made it difficult to make big and concrete steps towards [sustainability] transition. But is this perception accurate? Ask three researchers from the Dutch University of Groningen. In a review published in the last MDPI journal of sustainability, Leonie Venhoeven, Jan Bolderdijk and Linda Steg explored whethe...
Latest news
-
The Outweighed Efficiency Gain – 13 Rebound Effects in Detail
December 12, 2012 5 CommentsAccording to Tilman Santarius, one essential concept is missing in all the scenarios that lead toward a green economy. It is, so he wrote, that expectations for reduced energy consumption from efficiency gains need to be lowered by 50 percent because not all the energy that could be will actually be saved. How come? The story is called rebound effect and Santarius has researched it profoundly, as his paper “Green Growth Unravelled – How rebound effects baffle sustainability targets when the economy keeps growing” shows. The English version was published in October by the Heinrich Böll Foundati...
-
5-Fold Increase in Efficiency - Not Delusional at All
October 28, 2012 2 CommentsSome of my recent articles have circled around an apparent antagonism between different schools of thought in sustainability. I mentioned the two main contemporary concepts for leading business and society through the transformation to sustainable development: efficiency and sufficiency. The former aims at getting the same output with less input, whereas the latter calls for reducing output (mainly by reducing consumer needs). If there was a slight disposition to support sufficiency hidden between the lines of my blog posts, I want to clarify once more that we absolutely need both strategies. ...
-
“A Balanced Mix of Technologies and Strategies” - The Sustainable ...
October 16, 2012When it comes to discussing ways to limit human influence on global warming, the most popular reaction is to pass the buck: So who's in charge of making the needed substantial changes in the way things run? The Other. Why? Because they pollute more, because they're more powerful, because they have a historical responsibility, because it's easier for them... There seem to be more excuses for not acting than there are carbon dioxide molecules in the atmosphere. "Technology Will Save Us" Say Efficiency Advocates Even among those who are concerned with the environment and seek a way to increas...
-
Better, Different, Less – Green Economy Revisited
September 17, 2012 2 Comments“Post Growth Economy or Resource Efficiency Revolution – How Should We Face the Limits of Our Planet?” This question I asked in a blog post half a year ago. On the green growth vs. post-growth front, an interesting publication caught my attention recently. Barbara Unmüßig and Thomas Fatheuer from the “Heinrich Böll Stiftung”, a foundation associated with Germany's Green Party, and Wolfgang Sachs, member of the club of Rome and former Wuppertal Institut researcher, published a “Critique of the Green Economy” in April with a translation to English that followed in June. In it, they discussed the...
-
Exploring the Environmental Effects of Electric Cars
November 8, 2011 1 CommentCan you imagine the weight of 1.8 billion tonnes? I can't. I can only try to put this number in relation to others. 1.8 billion tonnes, that's the weight of all carbon emissions caused by private transport in 2009. 1,8 billion tonnes, that's 6,4% of the total carbon emissions from fuel combustion, emitted by all countries and all sectors in 2009 (see IEA's 2011 "highlights" report on CO2 Emissions from Fuel Combustion, page 67). Sustainable Strategies: Drive Less, Use the Bus, Get an Electric Car 1,8 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions, blown in the atmosphere, that's what happens whe...
-
Carbon Neutral Online Shopping – How Green are Mail Order Compani ...
August 29, 2012 7 Comments -
Biomass Lagging Behind Prospering Wind and Solar Markets
September 1, 2011 6 Comments -
Only 16.7% of Global Energy Consumption Is Renewable – Ways for I ...
June 26, 2012 6 Comments -
Four Fit-For-Future Bachelor Programs in Europe
January 28, 2012 5 Comments -
Food Footprints: Subjective Consumer Perception vs. Profound LCA ...
November 1, 2011 5 Comments
-
A Truly Green Building Sector? Sustainable Housing Challenges in ...
May 21, 2013 -
5 Clear-Cut Economic Benefits of Sustainability Reporting
May 15, 2013 -
How to Recycle Phosphorus, the Most Least-Known Scarce Resource
May 6, 2013 1 Comment -
ISO 14051-Based Material Flow Cost Accounting in a Nutshell
May 1, 2013 1 Comment -
Who's Happier – The Proactive Lohas or the Spontaneous Hedonist? ...
April 9, 2013
-
Here's another noteworthy "MDPI Sustainability"-article asse ...
May 20, 2013 -
Thanks Moritz for the interesting blog post. Recently ARTE T ...
May 8, 2013 -
A very nice blog explaining the basic idea as well as the be ...
May 3, 2013 -
[...] valued the universal guidelines for all sorts of envi ...
May 1, 2013 -
[...] 5-Fold Increase in Efficiency – Not Delusional at All ...
April 22, 2013
