IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/ecolec/v68y2009i10p2525-2534.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Giving the consumer the choice: A methodology for Product Ecological Footprint calculation

Author

Listed:
  • Mamouni Limnios, Elena Alexandra
  • Ghadouani, Anas
  • Schilizzi, Steven G.M.
  • Mazzarol, Tim

Abstract

As global consumption increases we are faced with a major threat; exceeding the Earth's capacity to create new resources and absorb waste. In the present study we develop a self-improving, market-driven process of ecological footprinting of products, proposed as a means to give consumers a real choice in actively monitoring and reducing their ecological impact. We conduct a small scale case study to illustrate first stage calculations. A wider market application of higher accuracy second or third stage calculations changes market information dynamics, as ecological information is internalized for consumers. Potential impacts on purchasing behavior, demand and eco-technological innovation are discussed.

Suggested Citation

  • Mamouni Limnios, Elena Alexandra & Ghadouani, Anas & Schilizzi, Steven G.M. & Mazzarol, Tim, 2009. "Giving the consumer the choice: A methodology for Product Ecological Footprint calculation," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(10), pages 2525-2534, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:68:y:2009:i:10:p:2525-2534
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0921-8009(09)00186-4
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wagner, Jeffrey, 2006. "On the economics of sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(4), pages 659-664, June.
    2. Joop de Boer, 2003. "Sustainability labelling schemes: the logic of their claims and their functions for stakeholders," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(4), pages 254-264, July.
    3. Wackernagel, Mathis & Rees, William E., 1997. "Perceptual and structural barriers to investing in natural capital: Economics from an ecological footprint perspective," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1), pages 3-24, January.
    4. John P. Reganold & Jerry D. Glover & Preston K. Andrews & Herbert R. Hinman, 2001. "Sustainability of three apple production systems," Nature, Nature, vol. 410(6831), pages 926-930, April.
    5. Sibylle D. Frey & David J. Harrison & Eric H. Billett, 2006. "Ecological Footprint Analysis Applied to Mobile Phones," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 10(1‐2), pages 199-216, January.
    6. Jollands, Nigel & Lermit, Jonathan & Patterson, Murray, 2004. "Aggregate eco-efficiency indices for New Zealand – a Principal Components Analysis," 2004 Conference, June 25-26, 2004, Blenheim, New Zealand 97773, New Zealand Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    7. McDonald, Garry W. & Patterson, Murray G., 2004. "Ecological Footprints and interdependencies of New Zealand regions," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1-2), pages 49-67, September.
    8. Lenzen, Manfred & Murray, Shauna A., 2001. "A modified ecological footprint method and its application to Australia," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 229-255, May.
    9. van den Bergh, Jeroen C. J. M. & Verbruggen, Harmen, 1999. "Spatial sustainability, trade and indicators: an evaluation of the 'ecological footprint'," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 61-72, April.
    10. Huijbregts, Mark A.J. & Hellweg, Stefanie & Frischknecht, Rolf & Hungerbuhler, Konrad & Hendriks, A. Jan, 2008. "Ecological footprint accounting in the life cycle assessment of products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(4), pages 798-807, February.
    11. Figge, Frank & Hahn, Tobias, 2004. "Sustainable Value Added--measuring corporate contributions to sustainability beyond eco-efficiency," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 173-187, February.
    12. Tornberg, Katja & Jamsen, Miikka & Paranko, Jari, 2002. "Activity-based costing and process modeling for cost-conscious product design: A case study in a manufacturing company," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 75-82, September.
    13. Haberl, Helmut & Erb, Karl-Heinz & Krausmann, Fridolin, 2001. "How to calculate and interpret ecological footprints for long periods of time: the case of Austria 1926-1995," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 25-45, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Nathalie Gröfke & Valérie Duplat & Christopher Wickert & Brian Tjemkes, 2021. "A Multi-Stakeholder Perspective on Food Labelling for Environmental Sustainability: Attitudes, Perceived Barriers, and Solution Approaches towards the “Traffic Light Index”," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-23, January.
    2. Blasi, E. & Passeri, N. & Franco, S. & Galli, A., 2016. "An ecological footprint approach to environmental–economic evaluation of farm results," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 145(C), pages 76-82.
    3. Liu, Tiantian & Wang, Qunwei & Su, Bin, 2016. "A review of carbon labeling: Standards, implementation, and impact," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 68-79.
    4. Malayaranjan Sahoo & Narayan Sethi, 2022. "The dynamic impact of urbanization, structural transformation, and technological innovation on ecological footprint and PM2.5: evidence from newly industrialized countries," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 24(3), pages 4244-4277, March.
    5. Mamouni Limnios, Elena & Schilizzi, Steven G.M. & Burton, Michael & Ong, Angeline & Hynes, Niki, 2016. "Willingness to pay for product ecological footprint: Organic vs non-organic consumers," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 338-348.
    6. Acquaye, Adolf A. & Yamoah, Fred A. & Feng, Kuishuang, 2015. "An integrated environmental and fairtrade labelling scheme for product supply chains," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 472-483.
    7. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2011. "Measuring and locating footprints: A case study of Taiwan's rice and wheat consumption footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 191-201.
    8. Chou, Sheng-Fang & Horng, Jeou-Shyan & Sam Liu, Chih-Hsing & Lin, Jun-You, 2020. "Identifying the critical factors of customer behavior: An integration perspective of marketing strategy and components of attitudes," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    9. Jóhannesson, S.E. & Davíðsdóttir, B. & Heinonen, J.T., 2018. "Standard Ecological Footprint Method for Small, Highly Specialized Economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 370-380.
    10. Nicoletta Patrizi & Valentina Niccolucci & Riccardo M. Pulselli & Elena Neri & Simone Bastianoni, 2018. "The Ecological Footprint Accounting of Products: When Larger Is Not Worse," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-13, October.
    11. Gaviria, YS & Londoño, LF & Zapata, JE, 2024. "Ecological Footprint Of Different Laying Hen Production Systems In San Jeronimo Municipality Antioquia, Colombia," African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition and Development (AJFAND), vol. 24(1), January.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Wiedmann & John Barrett, 2010. "A Review of the Ecological Footprint Indicator—Perceptions and Methods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 2(6), pages 1-49, June.
    2. White, Thomas J., 2007. "Sharing resources: The global distribution of the Ecological Footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 402-410, December.
    3. Jin, Wei & Xu, Linyu & Yang, Zhifeng, 2009. "Modeling a policy making framework for urban sustainability: Incorporating system dynamics into the Ecological Footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(12), pages 2938-2949, October.
    4. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2014. "Nested open systems: An important concept for applying ecological footprint analysis to sustainable development assessment," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 105-111.
    5. Carballo Penela, Adolfo & Sebastián Villasante, Carlos, 2008. "Applying physical input-output tables of energy to estimate the energy ecological footprint (EEF) of Galicia (NW Spain)," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 1148-1163, March.
    6. Chen, B. & Chen, G.Q., 2007. "Modified ecological footprint accounting and analysis based on embodied exergy--a case study of the Chinese society 1981-2001," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2-3), pages 355-376, March.
    7. Yue, Dongxia & Xu, Xiaofeng & Hui, Cang & Xiong, Youcai & Han, Xuemei & Ma, Jinhui, 2011. "Biocapacity supply and demand in Northwestern China: A spatial appraisal of sustainability," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(5), pages 988-994, March.
    8. Hoekstra, A.Y., 2009. "Human appropriation of natural capital: A comparison of ecological footprint and water footprint analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1963-1974, May.
    9. Jóhannesson, S.E. & Davíðsdóttir, B. & Heinonen, J.T., 2018. "Standard Ecological Footprint Method for Small, Highly Specialized Economies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 370-380.
    10. Chen, B. & Chen, G.Q. & Yang, Z.F. & Jiang, M.M., 2007. "Ecological footprint accounting for energy and resource in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(3), pages 1599-1609, March.
    11. Yue, Dongxia & Xu, Xiaofeng & Li, Zizhen & Hui, Cang & Li, Wenlong & Yang, Hequn & Ge, Jianping, 2006. "Spatiotemporal analysis of ecological footprint and biological capacity of Gansu, China 1991-2015: Down from the environmental cliff," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 393-406, June.
    12. Fabio Grazi & Jeroen Bergh & Piet Rietveld, 2007. "Spatial welfare economics versus ecological footprint: modeling agglomeration, externalities and trade," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 38(1), pages 135-153, September.
    13. Debrupa Chakraborty & Joyashree Roy, 2015. "Ecological footprint of paperboard and paper production unit in India," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 909-921, August.
    14. Ye-Ning Wang & Qiang Zhou & Hao-Wei Wang, 2020. "Assessing Ecological Carrying Capacity in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Based on a Three-Dimensional Ecological Footprint Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Wei Sun & Junli Li & Wenxi Qu, 2022. "Sustainability evolution and factors based on ecological footprint: A case study of Rizhao, China," Growth and Change, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 53(1), pages 132-150, March.
    16. Wiedmann, Thomas & Minx, Jan & Barrett, John & Wackernagel, Mathis, 2006. "Allocating ecological footprints to final consumption categories with input-output analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 28-48, January.
    17. Wang, Lei & Xu, Linyu & Song, Huimin, 2011. "Environmental performance evaluation of Beijing's energy use planning," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(6), pages 3483-3495, June.
    18. Ferng, Jiun-Jiun, 2005. "Local sustainable yield and embodied resources in ecological footprint analysis--a case study on the required paddy field in Taiwan," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 415-430, May.
    19. Hans P. Aubauer, 2011. "Development of Ecological Footprint to an Essential Economic and Political Tool," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 3(4), pages 1-17, April.
    20. Kitzes, Justin & Galli, Alessandro & Bagliani, Marco & Barrett, John & Dige, Gorm & Ede, Sharon & Erb, Karlheinz & Giljum, Stefan & Haberl, Helmut & Hails, Chris & Jolia-Ferrier, Laurent & Jungwirth, , 2009. "A research agenda for improving national Ecological Footprint accounts," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(7), pages 1991-2007, May.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:ecolec:v:68:y:2009:i:10:p:2525-2534. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/ecolecon .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.