Sustainable consumption

Sustainable consumption (sometimes abbreviated to "SC") is the use of products and services in ways that minimizes impacts on the environment. Sustainable consumption refers to the deliberate process of making decisions throughout the consumption cycle—including choice, use, and disposal—so as to meet present needs while minimizing adverse impacts on the environment, economy, society, and culture. It is rooted in the concept of the triple bottom line, which emphasizes environmental, social (equity), and economic considerations in consumption and production practices.

Sustainable consumption encompasses proactive behaviours such as purchasing sustainable products and services, avoidance behaviours including reducing consumption of unsustainable offerings, and practices that extend product lifecycles such as reuse and recycling. Research indicates that sustainable consumption involves complex decision-making processes that extend beyond simple purchase choices to include responsible interactions with products during their use and disposal phases.

Studies of sustainable consumption often highlight the role of consumer experiences, both in purchase and non-purchase contexts, in shaping sustainable behaviours such as recycling, sharing, and energy conservation. However, gaps remain in understanding how interventions influence sustainable consumption over time, highlighting the importance of dynamic and process-oriented research approaches in this area.

Sustainable consumption can be undertaken in such a way that needs are met for present-day humans and also for future generations. Sustainable consumption is often paralleled with sustainable production; consumption refers to use and disposal (or recycling) not just by individuals and households, but also by governments, businesses, and other organizations. Sustainable consumption is closely related to sustainable production and sustainable lifestyles. "A sustainable lifestyle minimizes ecological impacts while enabling a flourishing life for individuals, households, communities, and beyond. It is the product of individual and collective decisions about aspirations and about satisfying needs and adopting practices, which are in turn conditioned, facilitated, and constrained by societal norms, political institutions, public policies, infrastructures, markets, and culture."

The United Nations includes analyses of efficiency, infrastructure, and waste, as well as access to basic services, green and decent jobs, and a better quality of life for all within the concept of sustainable consumption. Sustainable consumption shares a number of common features and is closely linked to sustainable production and sustainable development. Sustainable consumption, as part of sustainable development, is part of the worldwide struggle against sustainability challenges such as climate change, resource depletion, famines, and environmental pollution.

Sustainable development as well as sustainable consumption rely on certain premises such as:

Goal 12 of the Sustainable Development Goals seeks to "ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns".

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.