scholarly journals The transformative effect of the introduction of water volumetric billing in a disadvantaged housing area in Sweden

Water Policy ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 16 (5) ◽  
pp. 973-990 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mikael Mangold ◽  
Greg Morrison ◽  
Robin Harder ◽  
Pernilla Hagbert ◽  
Sebastien Rauch
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Ecological Modernization ◽  
Water Usage ◽  
Domestic Water ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Household Economies ◽  
Housing Area ◽  
Payment Schemes ◽  
Negative Impacts

Domestic water payment schemes are often a product of their time, place and what is perceived to be customary. Aspects that payment schemes can take into account include resource conservation, equity, maintainability, and profitability. In contemporary Sweden profitable environmentally sustainable solutions are promoted, such as the introduction of volumetric billing of water in rental apartments. This paper describes the detailed consequences of this change in the payment structure for domestic water in terms of reduced resource consumption, direct impact on household economies and perceptions of the system's change process. By combining high-resolution quantitative data on water usage and socio-economic household characteristics with qualitative data from semi-standardized interviews with residents, it is possible to identify the different impacts of the system's change and how the process was experienced. It was shown that while water usage decreased by 30%, 63% of the households had increased monthly costs, and unemployed residents were further disadvantaged and closer to social exclusion. Focusing on making environmental sustainability profitable, as posited in ecological modernization theory, may shadow negative impacts on social sustainability.

scholarly journals Sustainable Solutions for Wearable Technologies: Mapping the Product Development Life Cycle

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (20) ◽  
pp. 8444
Author(s):  
Olga Gurova ◽  
Timothy Robert Merritt ◽  
Eleftherios Papachristos ◽  
Jenna Vaajakari
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Product Life Cycle ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Information And Communications Technology ◽  
Fashion Industry ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Wearable Technologies ◽  
Fitness Tracking

Wearable technologies involve the integration of technology into clothing or accessories to bring new functionalities for people on the move. Many examples of wearables are emerging, from simple fitness tracking watches to electronics deeply embedded into garments for multi-touch sensing and control for personal music players. Without careful development, wearables can have a negative impact on the environment due to increased production of electronic components, increased e-waste from abandoned devices, and increased energy usage. We examine environmental sustainability issues through a review of recent research and cases across three broad areas including the fashion industry, information and communications technology (ICT), and wearable technologies. In the analysis, we examine stages in the product life cycle and identify the unique issues for each sector, including the extraction of materials, production process, distribution of products, use, and disposal of products that have reached the end of their life. The findings are gathered as implications for design so that researchers, educators, designers, developers, and product managers will gain an overview of the issues related to environmental sustainability. Related examples of products and prototypes are provided to enable informed choices during the design and development of wearables that are more environmentally sustainable.

scholarly journals Trends of Environmentally Sustainable Solutions of Urban Last-Mile Deliveries on the E-Commerce Market—A Literature Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 5894
Author(s):  
Magdalena Mucowska
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Urban Freight ◽  
Sustainable Solutions ◽  
Last Mile ◽  
Urban Freight Transport ◽  
And Performance

The growth of e-commerce has increased urban freight transport, bringing negative externalities of emissions, pollution, noise, congestion, and habitat loss. There is a visible effort to make the urban last-mile (LM) deliveries more sustainable, mainly in the environmental aspects; however, the related literature lacks a synthesis of the up-to-date research trends and available solutions. This paper reviews relevant literature following SRL methodology in terms of topics related to green LM deliveries on the e-commerce market in urban areas, and identifies trends and the research gaps in this field. In addition, current research topics and existing solutions within the e-commerce market, which increase its environmental sustainability are presented. The findings provide an accurate and comprehensive synthesis of research in green LM e-commerce deliveries in cities, identify current and emerging interests of researchers worldwide, and discover areas requiring further studies. The topics of ICT and smart solutions, customer behavior, and performance assessment certainly seem to be underestimated in the current research. In practical terms, it is a source of knowledge and guidelines on the current developments regarding the existing solution for the LM e-commerce deliveries in the urban area, which might help local governments, freight operators, and other stakeholders of last-mile logistics to improve their sustainability.

scholarly journals Beyond a Sustainable Consumption Behavior: What Post-pandemic World Do We Want to Live in?

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Biagio F. Giannetti ◽  
Tamara Fonseca ◽  
Cecília M. V. B. Almeida ◽  
José Hugo de Oliveira ◽  
Wagner C. Valenti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Social Economic ◽  
Sustainable Consumption ◽  
First Century ◽  
Environmental Crisis ◽  
Input State ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Taking Action

The Covid-19 pandemic has uncovered the foremost struggles of the twenty first century: social-economic inequality, global value chains, national security, and the environmental crisis. None of these seems novel, as many staged fiction dystopias have been predicting and warning mankind about the negative impacts of unsustainable consumption behaviors by displaying scenarios of exponential human population and economy growth. Several scientific tools for assessing sustainability have been developed to cover social, economic, and environmental aspects, however, most of them are simply used either separately or without a solid conceptual model supporting an epistemological construct to allow for deeper and scientific-based discussions on sustainability. This work presents a perspective about possible scenarios of the world's sustainability, based on a straightforward integrated framework for its quantification. The three capitals of sustainability, summarized as environmental sustainability, productivity and happiness are combined, based on the input-state-output model, and further plotted on a 3-axis graph. Eight different combinations of the three capitals show eight potential future worlds. The least desirable scenario, named “Ineffective,” depicts an environmentally unsustainable, unhappy and poor world, whereas “Paradise” is the utopia to be pursued: happy, environmentally sustainable and productive. Societies' decisions on taking action after quantitatively measuring and monitoring sustainability will be determinant in placing the world on a more developed and sustainable path, and the model proposed in this work can be useful in promoting discussions in this direction.

The Existence of Geothermal Energy in Communication Perspective and Sustainable Environment in Indonesia

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
Indriyati Kamil ◽  
Oekan S Abdoellah ◽  
Herlina Agustin ◽  
Iriana Bakti
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Geothermal Energy ◽  
Nature Reserve ◽  
Nature Reserves ◽  
Communication Model ◽  
Conservation Areas ◽  
Conservation Area ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Communication Models ◽  
The Government

This article highlights the dynamics of geothermal energy in the Kamojang nature reserve in Indonesia. A nature reserve is a conservation area that must be protected and preserved, because it has unique flora and fauna, and rare ecosystems whose existence is threatened with extinction. After going through a long study process by an integrated team, the government finally made a policy to change the function of the nature reserve into a Nature Tourism Park. Changes in policy changes to the function of nature reserves cause pros and cons in the community, and cause conflicts between government and environmental activists. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that cause changes in the function of nature reserves into natural tourism parks in the Kamojang conservation area of Indonesia, as well as to identify appropriate communication models in the management of geothermal energy through communication and environmentally sustainable approaches. Research findings show that the factors that cause changes in the function of nature reserves into tourist parks include; the interests of geothermal energy to meet national energy needs and electricity infrastructure, accommodate the needs of surrounding communities that utilize water resources in conservation areas, and restore ecosystems. The communication model for geothermal energy management that we propose at the same time is also a novelty namely; ecopopulism approach, negotiation approach, collaboration, and equating meaning and orientation to environmental sustainability. Type of Paper: Empirical Keywords: Geothermal Energy, Nature Reserves, Conservation Policies, Communication Models and Sustainable Development.

scholarly journals The Impact of Environmental Sustainability Labels on Willingness-to-Pay for Foods: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Discrete Choice Experiments

Nutrients ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 2677
Author(s):  
Anastasios Bastounis ◽  
John Buckell ◽  
Jamie Hartmann-Boyce ◽  
Brian Cook ◽  
Sarah King ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Discrete Choice ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Purchasing Power Parity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Choice Experiments ◽  
Discrete Choice Experiments ◽  
Environmental Damage ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
The Impact

Food production is a major contributor to environmental damage. More environmentally sustainable foods could incur higher costs for consumers. In this review, we explore whether consumers are willing to pay (WTP) more for foods with environmental sustainability labels (‘ecolabels’). Six electronic databases were searched for experiments on consumers’ willingness to pay for ecolabelled food. Monetary values were converted to Purchasing Power Parity dollars and adjusted for country-specific inflation. Studies were meta-analysed and effect sizes with confidence intervals were calculated for the whole sample and for pre-specified subgroups defined as meat-dairy, seafood, and fruits-vegetables-nuts. Meta-regressions tested the role of label attributes and demographic characteristics on participants’ WTP. Forty-three discrete choice experiments (DCEs) with 41,777 participants were eligible for inclusion. Thirty-five DCEs (n = 35,725) had usable data for the meta-analysis. Participants were willing to pay a premium of 3.79 PPP$/kg (95%CI 2.7, 4.89, p ≤ 0.001) for ecolabelled foods. WTP was higher for organic labels compared to other labels. Women and people with lower levels of education expressed higher WTP. Ecolabels may increase consumers’ willingness to pay more for environmentally sustainable products and could be part of a strategy to encourage a transition to more sustainable diets.

scholarly journals Engineering Design Process of Face Masks Based on Circularity and Life Cycle Assessment in the Constraint of the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (9) ◽  
pp. 4948
Author(s):  
Núria Boix Rodríguez ◽  
Giovanni Formentini ◽  
Claudio Favi ◽  
Marco Marconi
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Design Guidelines ◽  
New Device ◽  
Engineering Design Process ◽  
Life Cycle Perspective ◽  
Different Types ◽  
3D Printed ◽  
Negative Impacts

Face masks are currently considered key equipment to protect people against the COVID-19 pandemic. The demand for such devices is considerable, as is the amount of plastic waste generated after their use (approximately 1.6 million tons/day since the outbreak). Even if the sanitary emergency must have the maximum priority, environmental concerns require investigation to find possible mitigation solutions. The aim of this work is to develop an eco-design actions guide that supports the design of dedicated masks, in a manner to reduce the negative impacts of these devices on the environment during the pandemic period. Toward this aim, an environmental assessment based on life cycle assessment and circularity assessment (material circularity indicator) of different types of masks have been carried out on (i) a 3D-printed mask with changeable filters, (ii) a surgical mask, (iii) an FFP2 mask with valve, (iv) an FFP2 mask without valve, and (v) a washable mask. Results highlight how reusable masks (i.e., 3D-printed masks and washable masks) are the most sustainable from a life cycle perspective, drastically reducing the environmental impacts in all categories. The outcomes of the analysis provide a framework to derive a set of eco-design guidelines which have been used to design a new device that couples protection requirements against the virus and environmental sustainability.

Environmentally sustainable stochastic procurement model

2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 472-498 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harpreet Kaur ◽  
Surya Prakash Singh
Keyword(s):  
Carbon Emissions ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Lot Sizing ◽  
Planning Horizon ◽  
Business Environment ◽  
Manufacturing Firms ◽  
Mixed Integer ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Procurement Planning

Purpose Procurement planning has always been a huge and challenging activity for business firms, especially in manufacturing. With government legislations about global concern over carbon emissions, the manufacturing firms are enforced to regulate and reduce the emissions caused throughout the supply chain. It is observed that procurement and logistics activities in manufacturing firms contribute heavily toward carbon emissions. Moreover, highly dynamic and uncertain business environment with uncertainty in parameters such as demand, supplier and carrier capacity adds to the complexity in procurement planning. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a novel attempt to model environmentally sustainable stochastic procurement (ESSP) problem as a mixed-integer non-linear program. The ESSP optimizes the procurement plan of the firm including lot-sizing, supplier and carrier selection by addressing uncertainty and environmental sustainability. The model applies chance-constrained-based approach to address the uncertain parameters. Findings The proposed ESSP model is solved optimally for 30 data sets to validate the proposed ESSP and is further demonstrated using three illustrations solved optimally in LINGO 10. Originality/value The ESSP model simultaneously minimizes total procurement cost and carbon emissions over the entire planning horizon considering uncertain demand, supplier and carrier capacity.

scholarly journals KINERJA PENGELOLAAN LIMBAH HOTEL PESERTA PROPER DAN NON PROPER DI KABUPATEN BADUNG, PROVINSI BALI

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Putri Nilakandi Perdanawati Pitoyo ◽  
I Wayan Arthana ◽  
I Made Sudarma
Keyword(s):  
Waste Water ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Hazardous Waste ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Quality Standard ◽  
Wastewater Management ◽  
Hotel Performance ◽  
Qualitative Descriptive ◽  
Negative Impacts ◽  
Parameter Values

Bali tourism development can lead to positive and negative impacts that threatening environmental sustainability. This research evaluates the hotel performance of the waste management that includes management of waste water, emission, hazardous, and solid waste by hotel that participate at PROPER and non PROPER. Research using qualitative descriptive method. Not all of non PROPER doing test on waste water quality, chimney emissions quality, an inventory of hazardous waste and solid waste sorting. Wastewater discharge of PROPER hotels ranged from 290.9 to 571.8 m3/day and non PROPER ranged from 8.4 to 98.1 m3/day with NH3 parameter values that exceed the quality standards. The quality of chimney emissions were still below the quality standard. The volume of the hazardous waste of PROPER hotels ranged from 66.1 to 181.9 kg/month and non PROPER ranged from 5.003 to 103.42 kg/month. Hazardous waste from the PROPER hotel which has been stored in the TPS hazardous waste. The volume of the solid waste of PROPER hotel ranged from 342.34 to 684.54 kg/day and non PROPER ranged from 4.83 to 181.51 kg/day. The PROPER and non PROPER hotel not sort the solid waste. The hotel performance in term of wastewater management, emission, hazardous, and solid waste is better at the PROPER hotel compared to non PROPER participants.

scholarly journals Consumer Readiness to Reduce Meat Consumption for the Purpose of Environmental Sustainability: Insights from Norway

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3058 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marthe Austgulen ◽  
Silje Skuland ◽  
Alexander Schjøll ◽  
Frode Alfnes
Keyword(s):  
Greenhouse Gas Emissions ◽  
Greenhouse Gas ◽  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Food Consumption ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Gas Emissions ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Consumption Practices ◽  
Group Interviews

Food production is associated with various environmental impacts and the production of meat is highlighted as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. A transition toward plant-based and low-meat diets has thus been emphasised as an important contribution to reducing climate change. By combining results from a consumer survey, focus group interviews and an in-store field experiment, this article investigates whether Norwegian consumers are ready to make food choices based on what is environmentally sustainable. We ask how consumers perceive the environmental impacts of food consumption, whether they are willing and able to change their food consumption in a more climate-friendly direction, and what influences their perceptions and positions. The results show that there is uncertainty among consumers regarding what constitutes climate- or environmentally friendly food choices and that few consumers are motivated to change their food consumption patterns for climate- or environmental reasons. Consumers’ support to initiatives, such as eating less meat and increasing the prices of meat, are partly determined by the consumers’ existing value orientation and their existing consumption practices. Finally, we find that although providing information about the climate benefits of eating less meat has an effect on vegetable purchases, this does not seem to mobilise consumer action any more than the provision of information about the health benefits of eating less meat does. The article concludes that environmental policies aiming to transfer part of the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to food consumers is being challenged by the fact that most consumers are still not ready to make food choices based on what is best for the climate or environment.

scholarly journals Will the EU Taxonomy Regulation Foster Sustainable Corporate Governance?

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (21) ◽  
pp. 12316
Author(s):  
Alessio M. Pacces
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Institutional Investors ◽  
Law And Economics ◽  
Securities Regulation ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Financial Products ◽  
Principal Agent Problem ◽  
Sustainability Disclosure ◽  
The Eu

EU securities regulation has established a taxonomy of environmentally sustainable activities. This article discusses, from a law and economics standpoint, the potential of this taxonomy to support sustainable corporate governance. Corporate governance can be an efficient way to channel investor preferences towards sustainability because the concentration of institutional shareholding has lowered the transaction costs of shareholder action. However, there is a principal-agent problem between institutional investors and their beneficiaries, which depends on greenwashing and undermines sustainable corporate governance. This article argues that introducing environmental sustainability into EU mandatory disclosure aligns the institutional investors’ incentives with the interest of their beneficiaries and may foster the efficient inclusion of sustainability in corporate governance. The argument is threefold. Firstly, the EU taxonomy may curb greenwashing by standardizing the disclosure of environmental sustainability. Secondly, this information may become salient for the beneficiaries as the same standards define the sustainability preferences to be considered in recommending and marketing financial products. Thirdly, sustainability disclosure prompts institutional investors to compete for sustainability-minded beneficiaries. Being unable to avoid unsustainable companies altogether, institutional investors are expected to cater to beneficiaries’ preferences for environmental sustainability using voice instead of an exit.

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