From Sustainable Production to Sustainable Consumption

Abstract

The objective of this chapter is to explain which secondary - environmental consequences (often called rebound effects) life cycle assessment (LCA) and life cycle management (LCM) of products need to consider in addition to the conventional product LCA, and which roles different actors in society have in the context of environmentally sustainable consumption. The key issue is that any consumption decision affects the consumer's household resources of available income, time, and space (volume, area), what leads to additional or reduced overall consumption, within the limits of further consumption constraints and cross-category effects. Exactly how any additional resources are used by the consumer strongly affects the overall consumption. Moreover, this chapter considers the consumption on person, on national and global level, with some focus on sustainable lifestyles, and concludes with recommendations on next steps towards better measurement and management of the environmental secondary consequences of consumption.