scholarly journals Car vs. Packaging—A First, Simple (Environmental) Sustainability Assessment of Our Changing Shopping Behaviour

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 3061 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roland Hischier
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Big City ◽  
Similar Range ◽  
Car Travel ◽  
Online Shops ◽  
The City ◽  
Nearby City

Which way of purchasing your clothes results in the lowest environmental impacts: “running” into the next big city to “plunder” the various clothing stores, or searching through a plethora of online shops and ordering your next shirt directly to you at home? So far, no such comparison has been published. The aim of this study is to get a first basic idea of which of these two consumer choices is the more environmentally sustainable by assessing the potential environmental impacts related to one person’s annual purchases of clothing through a simplified life cycle assessment. The study shows that going to a nearby city for shopping is not necessarily worse compared to online purchasing. When a person uses their own car, travel from home to the city and back is responsible for a sizeable amount of the potential impacts. However, the potential impacts of travel are heavily influenced by the means of transport (i.e., use of public transport rather than personal car) and the frequency of shopping excursions over the year. Overall, the potential impacts per single clothing item purchased could be in a similar range for both means of purchase.

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 Minicities in suburbia – A model for urban sustainability?

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Per Gunnar Røe ◽  
Inger-Lise Saglie
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Urban Development ◽  
City Centre ◽  
Urban Region ◽  
The Social ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Us ◽  
Big City ◽  
Car Travel ◽  
The City

In the 1970s it was argued that suburban centres in the US had developed into “minicities”, offering a wide range of possibilities for consumption, cultural events and a sense of the urban. In this article we explore to which extent this description of minicities may be valid in two cases in the suburban hinterland of Oslo. We further discuss whether the “urbanization” of these suburban centres may contribute to a more sustainable urban development, with respect to everyday travel. We conclude that the growth of these minicities may reduce car travel, either because of their excellent public transport connection to the (big) city centre and other nodes in the increasingly decentralized urban region, or because they may serve as a substitute for the city centre. However, an empirical investigation of the role of minicities must be based on a deeper understanding of the social and cultural processes that guide the everyday life of today’s sub­urbanites.

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Typical Cathode Materials of Lithium-Ion Battery Based on Three LCA Approaches

Processes ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lei Wang ◽  
Haohui Wu ◽  
Yuchen Hu ◽  
Yajuan Yu ◽  
Kai Huang
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Cathode Materials ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Lithium Ion ◽  
Environmental Issues ◽  
Renewable Resource ◽  
Resource Consumption ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
The World

With the rapid increase in production of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) and environmental issues arising around the world, cathode materials, as the key component of all LIBs, especially need to be environmentally sustainable. However, a variety of life cycle assessment (LCA) methods increase the difficulty of environmental sustainability assessment. Three authoritative LCAs, IMPACT 2002+, Eco-indicator 99(EI-99), and ReCiPe, are used to assess three traditional marketization cathode materials, compared with a new cathode model, FeF3(H2O)3/C. They all show that four cathode models are ranked by a descending sequence of environmental sustainable potential: FeF3(H2O)3/C, LiFe0.98Mn0.02PO4/C, LiFePO4/C, and LiCoO2/C in total values. Human health is a common issue regarding these four cathode materials. Lithium is the main contributor to the environmental impact of the latter three cathode materials. At the midpoint level in different LCAs, the toxicity and land issues for LiCoO2/C, the non-renewable resource consumption for LiFePO4/C, the metal resource consumption for LiFe0.98Mn0.02PO4/C, and the mineral refinement for FeF3(H2O)3/C show relatively low environmental sustainability. Three LCAs have little influence on total endpoint and element contribution values. However, at the midpoint level, the indicator with the lowest environmental sustainability for the same cathode materials is different in different methodologies.

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability Enhancement of Waste Disposal Sites in Developing Countries through Controlling Greenhouse Gas Emissions

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 151
Author(s):  
Ihsanullah Sohoo ◽  
Marco Ritzkowski ◽  
Kerstin Kuchta ◽  
Senem Önen Cinar
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
Waste Disposal ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Methane Emissions ◽  
Methane Recovery ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Methane Reduction ◽  
Developed World ◽  
The City

Sustainable management of municipal solid waste is one of the major challenges for authorities in developing countries. Current waste disposal methods in Pakistan and other developing countries are not meeting standards of any proper waste management system opted for in the developed world. This mismanagement of waste is leading to serious environmental problems at local as well as global levels. This study aims to investigate the methane emissions from waste dumpsites in the city of Karachi, Pakistan, and to propose an effective approach to enhance their environmental sustainability. The methane emissions from waste disposal sites were assessed by simulating four different landfill situations during the landfill simulation reactor experiment. The residual methane reduction potential of each waste disposal approach was assessed by a biochemical methane test of waste after the experiment. It is estimated that in the present situation, about 11,500 tons of CO2-eq methane is released annually from waste disposal sites in Karachi. The convectional anaerobic landfill with methane capturing facilities and post-aeration operation was found to be the most environmentally sustainable approach with controlling 65% of residual methane emissions in comparison with the present scenario. For the development of new landfill sites, we recommend the bioreactor landfill approach with methane recovery and post-care (in-situ aeration).

scholarly journals Benchmarking the Swedish Diet Relative to Global and National Environmental Targets—Identification of Indicator Limitations and Data Gaps

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 1407
Author(s):  
Emma Moberg ◽  
Hanna Karlsson Potter ◽  
Amanda Wood ◽  
Per-Anders Hansson ◽  
Elin Röös
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Food System ◽  
Chemical Pollution ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
System A ◽  
Environmental Objectives ◽  
Imported Foods ◽  
Fine Resolution ◽  
Global And Local

To reduce environmental burdens from the food system, a shift towards environmentally sustainable diets is needed. In this study, the environmental impacts of the Swedish diet were benchmarked relative to global environmental boundaries suggested by the EAT-Lancet Commission. To identify local environmental concerns not captured by the global boundaries, relationships between the global EAT-Lancet variables and the national Swedish Environmental Objectives (SEOs) were analysed and additional indicators for missing aspects were identified. The results showed that the environmental impacts caused by the average Swedish diet exceeded the global boundaries for greenhouse gas emissions, cropland use and application of nutrients by two- to more than four-fold when the boundaries were scaled to per capita level. With regard to biodiversity, the impacts caused by the Swedish diet transgressed the boundary by six-fold. For freshwater use, the diet performed well within the boundary. Comparison of global and local indicators revealed that the EAT-Lancet variables covered many aspects included in the SEOs, but that these global indicators are not always of sufficiently fine resolution to capture local aspects of environmental sustainability, such as eutrophication impacts. To consider aspects and impact categories included in the SEO but not currently covered by the EAT-Lancet variables, such as chemical pollution and acidification, additional indicators and boundaries are needed. This requires better inventory data on e.g., pesticide use and improved traceability for imported foods.

scholarly journals Environmental Sustainability Assessment of Sugarcane Industry Using Life Cycle Assessment

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 56-66
Author(s):  
Galuh Zuhria Kautzar ◽  
◽  
Ishardita Pambudi Tama ◽  
Yeni Sumantri ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
Environmental Impact ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Sustainability Assessment ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Damage Categories ◽  
Research Show ◽  
Sugarcane Industry

The sugarcane industry is one of the industries that generated negatives impact on the environment. Therefore, it can be concluded that the sugarcane industry is not environmentally sustainable. The results of this research show that the use of electricity from bagasse cogeneration becomes the main contributor to all of damage categories. Meanwhile, the highest contribution to damage categories is human health with a total score of 59%. The results of this research are expected to reduce the environmental impact produced by PT. X so that PT. X will be more environmentally sustainable.

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

2011 ◽  
pp. 51-64 ◽  
Author(s):  
San Murugesan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
It Strategy ◽  
Green It ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Practical Guidelines

IT is both a solution and a problem to environmental sustainability. Though IT significantly benefits us in many different ways and helps to address environmental problems we face, it, on its own, can harm the environment if not managed properly. IT contributes to environmental problems in a few different ways, which most people don’t realize. IT systems and their use can be made more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, and businesses and individuals are obliged to minimize or eliminate where possible the harmful environmental impacts of IT to help create a more sustainable environment. This chapter outlines strategic approaches for greening enterprise IT and offers recommendations that will help an enterprise define its green IT strategy and create practical guidelines for its implementation. To provide motivation for greening enterprise IT, beginning with a brief overview of environmental impacts of enterprise IT, this chapter discusses why greening enterprise IT is a necessity, not an option.

scholarly journals ASSESSMENT OF URBAN ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY IN HUE CITY AS A CASE STUDY

2018 ◽  
Vol 54 (2A) ◽  
pp. 195
Author(s):  
Tran Anh Tuan
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Solid Waste ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Analysis Process ◽  
Climate Change Response ◽  
Improvement Measures ◽  
Change Response ◽  
The City

Hue city was chosen for a pilot application of indicators on environmentally sustainable city, which were developed by Vietnam Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. The indicator set is composed of four key categories (water, air, solid waste and climate change response), which are broken down into 16 underlying performance indicators. In reality, there has not been any assessment process in place to guide cities in Vietnam in doing their own assessment. In this research, an assessment process including 5 steps was built up; and a barometer with 5 classification bands ranging from 0 to 100 was recommended to use for both category and overall assessment. The weighting of 4 urban environmental categories was undertaken based upon a Delphi method with informed inputs from an expert panel. The 5 - step analysis process showed that Hue city was ranked “medium” with the score between 41 - 60 for water and solid waste, “fairly good” in terms of air (score of 85) and “poor” as to climate change response (score of 40). The sum of all category scores of Hue city, which is also rebased to 100, is valued at 60. Thus, the city was ranked “fairly good” in the overall. Such assessment results are much expected to provide assistance in decision-making at various levels of local authority and help them set forth some appropriate improvement measures on urban environmental sustainability issues. As such, the city would soon meet some concerned requirements to become a leading city of Vietnam in urban environmental sustainability.

scholarly journals Marketplace Trade in Large Cities in Poland

Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (9) ◽  
pp. 933
Author(s):  
Beata Bieszk-Stolorz ◽  
Krzysztof Dmytrów
Keyword(s):  
Economic Benefits ◽  
Linear Ordering ◽  
Tourist Attractions ◽  
High Position ◽  
Large Cities ◽  
Local Labour ◽  
Online Shops ◽  
The City ◽  
Research Period ◽  
Nearby City

Traditional marketplace trade brings many socio-economic benefits: it affects the local labour market, entrepreneurship, and tourism. In many countries, activities are undertaken to support the operation of marketplaces. In recent years, new threats to the development of marketplaces have emerged, such as cheap discount shops, supermarkets, and online shops. The inhabitants of many cities still enjoy shopping at traditional marketplaces. The aim of the research is to assess the development of marketplace trade in large cities in Poland. Eurostat does not provide detailed data on marketplaces in Poland. We decided to fill this gap. Additionally, we assessed the attractiveness of large cities in Poland in terms of the development of marketplace trade in the years 2008–2019 by means of linear ordering of objects (Hellwig’s composite measure of development). In the years 1995–2019, the number of marketplaces in Poland remained at a constant level, but since 2003 their area has decreased. However, the total number of marketplaces has increased compared to 1995. In the whole research period, Kraków and Katowice were the most attractive cities with respect to the development of the marketplace trade, while Gdańsk and Sosnowiec were the least attractive. The high position of Kraków results from the nature of the city and its tourist attractions, while the low position of Sosnowiec is caused by the existence of a large bazaar in nearby city of Będzin.

Strategies for Greening Enterprise IT

2011 ◽  
pp. 59-72
Author(s):  
San Murugesan
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Impacts ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Energy Efficient ◽  
Environmental Problems ◽  
It Strategy ◽  
Green It ◽  
Environmentally Sustainable ◽  
Sustainable Environment ◽  
It Systems ◽  
Practical Guidelines

IT is both a solution and a problem to environmental sustainability. Though IT significantly benefits us in many different ways and helps to address environmental problems we face, it, on its own, can harm the environment if not managed properly. IT contributes to environmental problems in a few different ways, which most people don’t realize. IT systems and their use can be made more energy efficient and environmentally sustainable, and businesses and individuals are obliged to minimize or eliminate where possible the harmful environmental impacts of IT to help create a more sustainable environment. This chapter outlines strategic approaches for greening enterprise IT and offers recommendations that will help an enterprise define its green IT strategy and create practical guidelines for its implementation. To provide motivation for greening enterprise IT, beginning with a brief overview of environmental impacts of enterprise IT, this chapter discusses why greening enterprise IT is a necessity, not an option.

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