IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i11p3961-d179372.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Economic Potential to Support Sustainability through Household Consumption Choices

Author

Listed:
  • Anna Claudelin

    (Sustainability Science, School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Saimaankatu 11, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Sini Järvelä

    (Sustainability Science, School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Saimaankatu 11, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Ville Uusitalo

    (Sustainability Science, School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Saimaankatu 11, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Maija Leino

    (Sustainability Science, School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Saimaankatu 11, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

  • Lassi Linnanen

    (Sustainability Science, School of Energy Systems, Lappeenranta University of Technology, Saimaankatu 11, 15140 Lahti, Finland)

Abstract

The amount of money that could potentially be saved by households by reducing unnecessary consumption and directed to sustainable investments without compromising the social needs in Finnish households was studied. The study was conducted by using statistical data and by creating short- and long-term scenarios to assess potential savings resulting from changes in household behaviour. According to the results, a Finnish household could save and subsequently allocate an average of €3400–€15,000 annually to invest in sustainability. The greatest potential for preventing unnecessary consumption is related to (1) food and drinks, and (2) transportation. In the long-term scenario, reducing expenditures in the category of housing also provides opportunities for high savings. A significant share of the saving created by sustainable patterns of consumption can be directed for example to investments in renewable energy.

Suggested Citation

  • Anna Claudelin & Sini Järvelä & Ville Uusitalo & Maija Leino & Lassi Linnanen, 2018. "The Economic Potential to Support Sustainability through Household Consumption Choices," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(11), pages 1-13, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3961-:d:179372
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3961/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/11/3961/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Jose Ramon Saura & Ana Reyes-Menendez & Cesar Alvarez-Alonso, 2018. "Do Online Comments Affect Environmental Management? Identifying Factors Related to Environmental Management and Sustainability of Hotels," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-20, August.
    2. Age Poom & Rein Ahas, 2016. "How Does the Environmental Load of Household Consumption Depend on Residential Location?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, August.
    3. Christiana Figueres & Hans Joachim Schellnhuber & Gail Whiteman & Johan Rockström & Anthony Hobley & Stefan Rahmstorf, 2017. "Three years to safeguard our climate," Nature, Nature, vol. 546(7660), pages 593-595, June.
    4. Ian Gough, 2015. "Climate change and sustainable welfare: the centrality of human needs," Cambridge Journal of Economics, Cambridge Political Economy Society, vol. 39(5), pages 1191-1214.
    5. Kerkhof, Annemarie C. & Nonhebel, Sanderine & Moll, Henri C., 2009. "Relating the environmental impact of consumption to household expenditures: An input-output analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(4), pages 1160-1170, February.
    6. Kok, Rixt & Benders, Rene M.J. & Moll, Henri C., 2006. "Measuring the environmental load of household consumption using some methods based on input-output energy analysis: A comparison of methods and a discussion of results," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(17), pages 2744-2761, November.
    7. Ian Gough, 2017. "Heat, Greed and Human Need," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 16991.
    8. Genovaitė Liobikienė & Justina Mandravickaitė, 2013. "Convergence of new members of the EU: changes in household consumption expenditure structure regarding environmental impact during the prosperous period," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 407-427, April.
    9. Anna Claudelin & Ville Uusitalo & Sanna Pekkola & Maija Leino & Suvi Konsti-Laakso, 2017. "The Role of Consumers in the Transition toward Low-Carbon Living," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-15, June.
    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. Anna Claudelin & Ville Uusitalo & Ilona Hintukainen & Anna Kuokkanen & Paavo Tertsunen & Maija Leino & Lassi Linnanen, 2020. "Increasing positive climate impact by combining anti‐consumption and consumption changes with impact investing," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(6), pages 1689-1701, November.
    2. Pablo Garmendia & Gabriela Topa & Teresa Herrador & Montserrat Hernández, 2019. "Does Death Anxiety Moderate the Adequacy of Retirement Savings? Empirical Evidence from 40-Plus Clients of Spanish Financial Advisory Firms," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 7(3), pages 1-13, July.

    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. Smetschka, Barbara & Wiedenhofer, Dominik & Egger, Claudine & Haselsteiner, Edeltraud & Moran, Daniel & Gaube, Veronika, 2019. "Time Matters: The Carbon Footprint of Everyday Activities in Austria," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 1-1.
    2. Liu, Lan-Cui & Wu, Gang, 2013. "Relating five bounded environmental problems to China's household consumption in 2011–2015," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 427-433.
    3. Mach, Radomír & Weinzettel, Jan & Ščasný, Milan, 2018. "Environmental Impact of Consumption by Czech Households: Hybrid Input–Output Analysis Linked to Household Consumption Data," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 62-73.
    4. Moises Neil V. Seriño & Stephan Klasen, 2015. "Estimation and Determinants of the Philippines' Household Carbon Footprint," The Developing Economies, Institute of Developing Economies, vol. 53(1), pages 44-62, March.
    5. Tuuli Hirvilammi & Max Koch, 2020. "Sustainable Welfare beyond Growth," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-8, February.
    6. Long, Yin & Yoshida, Yoshikuni & Fang, Kai & Zhang, Haoran & Dhondt, Maya, 2019. "City-level household carbon footprint from purchaser point of view by a modified input-output model," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C), pages 379-387.
    7. Hossein Mirshojaeian Hosseini & Shinji Kaneko, 2012. "Estimation of sectoral energy and energy-related CO2 emission intensities in Iran: An energy IO approach," IDEC DP2 Series 2-15, Hiroshima University, Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC).
    8. Age Poom & Rein Ahas, 2016. "How Does the Environmental Load of Household Consumption Depend on Residential Location?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(9), pages 1-18, August.
    9. Corlet Walker, Christine & Druckman, Angela & Jackson, Tim, 2021. "Welfare systems without economic growth: A review of the challenges and next steps for the field," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    10. Ala-Mantila, Sanna & Heinonen, Jukka & Junnila, Seppo, 2014. "Relationship between urbanization, direct and indirect greenhouse gas emissions, and expenditures: A multivariate analysis," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 129-139.
    11. Genovaitė Liobikienė & Justina Mandravickaitė, 2013. "Convergence of new members of the EU: changes in household consumption expenditure structure regarding environmental impact during the prosperous period," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 407-427, April.
    12. Richard Bärnthaler & Andreas Novy & Leonhard Plank, 2021. "The Foundational Economy as a Cornerstone for a Social–Ecological Transformation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-19, September.
    13. Wei, Rui & Zhang, Wencheng & Peng, Shuijun, 2022. "Energy and greenhouse gas footprints of China households during 1995–2019: A global perspective," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    14. Moises Neil V. Seriño, 2017. "Is Decoupling Possible? Association between Affluence and Household Carbon Emissions in the Philippines," Asian Economic Journal, East Asian Economic Association, vol. 31(2), pages 165-185, June.
    15. Eloi Laurent & Jean Jouzel, 2018. "The Well-being Transition: Measuring what counts to protect what matters," Sciences Po publications 35, Sciences Po.
    16. Nathanael Ojong, 2022. "Fostering Human Wellbeing in Africa through Solar Home Systems: A Systematic and a Critical Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-15, July.
    17. D’Orazio, Paola & Valente, Marco, 2019. "The role of finance in environmental innovation diffusion: An evolutionary modeling approach," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 162(C), pages 417-439.
    18. Pottier, Antonin, 2022. "Expenditure elasticity and income elasticity of GHG emissions: A survey of literature on household carbon footprint," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    19. Gough, Ian, 2020. "The case for Universal Basic Services," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 107815, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    20. Alves, Luís & Pereira, Vítor & Lagarteira, Tiago & Mendes, Adélio, 2021. "Catalytic methane decomposition to boost the energy transition: Scientific and technological advancements," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).

    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:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:11:p:3961-:d:179372. 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.