IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jresou/v3y2014i3p488-515d37967.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Eight Tons of Material Footprint—Suggestion for a Resource Cap for Household Consumption in Finland

Author

Listed:
  • Michael Lettenmeier

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, Wuppertal 42103, Germany
    Ltd., Purokatu 34, Lahti 15200, Finland
    Department of Design, Aalto University, Hämeentie 135 C, Helsinki 00760, Finland)

  • Christa Liedtke

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, Wuppertal 42103, Germany
    Folkwang University of the Arts, Industrial Design, Klemensborn 39, Essen 45239, Germany)

  • Holger Rohn

    (Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy, Döppersberg 19, Wuppertal 42103, Germany
    Faktor 10—Institut für nachhaltiges Wirtschaften gemeinnützige GmbH, Alte Bahnhofstraße 13, Friedberg 61169, Germany
    Institute of Refrigerating and Biotechnology Lomonosov, ITMO University, Ulitsa 9, St. Petersburg 191002, Russia)

Abstract

The paper suggests a sustainable material footprint of eight tons, per person, in a year as a resource cap target for household consumption in Finland. This means an 80% (factor 5) reduction from the present Finnish average. The material footprint is used as a synonym to the Total Material Requirement (TMR) calculated for products and activities. The paper suggests how to allocate the sustainable material footprint to different consumption components on the basis of earlier household studies, as well as other studies, on the material intensity of products, services, and infrastructures. It analyzes requirements, opportunities, and challenges for future developments in technology and lifestyle, also taking into account that future lifestyles are supposed to show a high degree of diversity. The targets and approaches are discussed for the consumption components of nutrition, housing, household goods, mobility, leisure activities, and other purposes. The paper states that a sustainable level of natural resource use by households is achievable and it can be roughly allocated to different consumption components in order to illustrate the need for a change in lifestyles. While the absolute material footprint of all the consumption components will have to decrease, the relative share of nutrition, the most basic human need, in the total material footprint is expected to rise, whereas much smaller shares than at present are proposed for housing and especially mobility. For reducing material resource use to the sustainable level suggested, both social innovations, and technological developments are required.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael Lettenmeier & Christa Liedtke & Holger Rohn, 2014. "Eight Tons of Material Footprint—Suggestion for a Resource Cap for Household Consumption in Finland," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-28, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jresou:v:3:y:2014:i:3:p:488-515:d:37967
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/3/3/488/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2079-9276/3/3/488/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lettenmeier, Michael & Gobel, Christine & Liedtke, Christa & Rohn, Holger & Teitscheid, Petra, 2012. "Material Footprint of a Sustainable Nutrition System in 2050 – Need for Dynamic Innovations in Production, Consumption and Politics," 2012 International European Forum, February 13-17, 2012, Innsbruck-Igls, Austria 144983, International European Forum on System Dynamics and Innovation in Food Networks.
    2. Susan Handy & Kelly Clifton, 2001. "Local shopping as a strategy for reducing automobile travel," Transportation, Springer, vol. 28(4), pages 317-346, November.
    3. Kristin Leismann & Martina Schmitt & Holger Rohn & Carolin Baedeker, 2013. "Collaborative Consumption: Towards a Resource-Saving Consumption Culture," Resources, MDPI, vol. 2(3), pages 1-20, 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. Hickel, Jason & Sullivan, Dylan, 2024. "How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    2. Ryu Koide & Lewis Akenji, 2017. "Assessment of Policy Integration of Sustainable Consumption and Production into National Policies," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Johannes Buhl & Christa Liedtke & Katrin Bienge, 2017. "How Much Environment Do Humans Need? Evidence from an Integrated Online User Application Linking Natural Resource Use and Subjective Well-Being in Germany," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-13, November.
    4. Felix Müller & Jan Kosmol & Hermann Keßler & Michael Angrick & Bettina Rechenberg, 2017. "Dematerialization—A Disputable Strategy for Resource Conservation Put under Scrutiny," Resources, MDPI, vol. 6(4), pages 1-32, December.
    5. Christa Liedtke & Katrin Bienge & Klaus Wiesen & Jens Teubler & Kathrin Greiff & Michael Lettenmeier & Holger Rohn, 2014. "Resource Use in the Production and Consumption System—The MIPS Approach," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-31, August.
    6. Jingru Liu & Haotong Wu & Xin Tian & Heming Wang & Yinglei Wu, 2022. "Materials footprint of household consumption in China," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1504-1513, August.
    7. Johannes Buhl & Christa Liedtke & Sebastian Schuster & Katrin Bienge, 2020. "Predicting the Material Footprint in Germany between 2015 and 2020 via Seasonally Decomposed Autoregressive and Exponential Smoothing Algorithms," Resources, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-17, October.
    8. Hickel, Jason & Sullivan, Dylan, 2024. "How much growth is required to achieve good lives for all? Insights from needs-based analysis," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 124460, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Stefan Bringezu, 2015. "Possible Target Corridor for Sustainable Use of Global Material Resources," Resources, MDPI, vol. 4(1), pages 1-30, February.

    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. Christa Liedtke & Katrin Bienge & Klaus Wiesen & Jens Teubler & Kathrin Greiff & Michael Lettenmeier & Holger Rohn, 2014. "Resource Use in the Production and Consumption System—The MIPS Approach," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-31, August.
    2. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Baker, Douglas & Washington, Simon & Turrell, Gavin, 2013. "Residential dissonance and mode choice," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 12-28.
    3. Li, Jingjing & Kim, Changjoo & Sang, Sunhee, 2018. "Exploring impacts of land use characteristics in residential neighborhood and activity space on non-work travel behaviors," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 141-147.
    4. Cornelis Dirk van Goeverden, 2021. "The value of travel speed," Papers 2106.06599, arXiv.org.
    5. Vance, Colin & Procher, Vivien, 2013. "Who Does the Shopping? German time-use evidence, 1996-2009," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 2357, pages 125-133.
    6. Baldwin Hess, Daniel, 2009. "Access to Public Transit and Its Influence on Ridership for Older Adults in Two U.S. Cities," The Journal of Transport and Land Use, Center for Transportation Studies, University of Minnesota, vol. 2(1), pages 3-27.
    7. Elldér, Erik, 2014. "Residential location and daily travel distances: the influence of trip purpose," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 121-130.
    8. Silvio Franco & Clara Cicatiello, 2018. "Food waste due to over-nutrition in the Italians? dietary habits," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(1), pages 159-180.
    9. Jiahui Qin & Shijia Luo & Disheng Yi & Heping Jiang & Jing Zhang, 2022. "Measuring Cluster-Based Spatial Access to Shopping Stores under Real-Time Travel Time," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-21, February.
    10. McGreevy, Michael & Harris, Patrick & Delany-Crowe, Toni & Fisher, Matt & Sainsbury, Peter & Baum, Fran, 2019. "Can health and health equity be advanced by urban planning strategies designed to advance global competitiveness? Lessons from two Australian case studies," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 242(C).
    11. Johannes Buhl, 2014. "Revisiting Rebound Effects from Material Resource Use. Indications for Germany Considering Social Heterogeneity," Resources, MDPI, vol. 3(1), pages 1-17, February.
    12. Figueroa, Maria J. & Nielsen, Thomas A. Sick & Siren, Anu, 2014. "Comparing urban form correlations of the travel patterns of older and younger adults," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 10-20.
    13. Kamil Pícha & Ladislav Skořepa & Josef Navrátil, 2013. "Assessment of the results of the strategic orientation on regional and local products in food retail," Acta Universitatis Agriculturae et Silviculturae Mendelianae Brunensis, Mendel University Press, vol. 61(4), pages 1061-1068.
    14. Handy, Susan L, 2002. "Accessibility- vs. Mobility-Enhancing Strategies for Addressing Automobile Dependence in the U.S," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5kn4s4pb, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    15. Astroza, Sebastian & Guarda, Pablo & Carrasco, Juan Antonio, 2022. "Modeling the relationship between food purchasing, transport, and health outcomes: Evidence from Concepcion, Chile," Journal of choice modelling, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    16. Kamruzzaman, Md. & Shatu, Farjana Mostafiz & Hine, Julian & Turrell, Gavin, 2015. "Commuting mode choice in transit oriented development: Disentangling the effects of competitive neighbourhoods, travel attitudes, and self-selection," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 187-196.
    17. Clement Nangpiire & Francis Oheneba Gyebi & Theophile Nasse, 2024. "Sustainable Procurement Practices and Organisational Performance of Small and Medium Enterprises in Ghana," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 14(1), pages 95-106, January.
    18. Cui, Yuchen & Mishra, Sabyasachee & Welch, Timothy F., 2014. "Land use effects on bicycle ridership: a framework for state planning agencies," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 220-228.
    19. Handy, Susan, 2002. "Smart Growth and The Transportation-Land Use Connection: What Does the Research Tell Us?," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5kh4f7fp, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    20. Michalak Szymon & Bartkowiak Paweł & Ankiel Magdalena & Olejniczak Tomasz & Stachowiak-Krzyżan Magda, 2022. "Motives for the Usage of Collaborative Fashion Consumption Online Platforms," Marketing of Scientific and Research Organizations, Sciendo, vol. 44(2), pages 41-66, June.

    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:gam:jresou:v:3:y:2014:i:3:p:488-515:d:37967. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.