Loading

Tag archives for consumption

How green can our consumption get?

8 comments
Painful question: Could this beautiful place actually be better off if I don’t go there, even if I wear environmentally friendly new hiking boots..? Photo: buck82 (CC: by-nc)
 

We are often encouraged to “consume green” in order to reduce our climate and environmental impact. It sounds good: “Buy this thing instead of that, and things will be ok.” But what does it really mean? And can a trip to a distant rain forest ever be environmentally friendly?

 Christan Fuentes, who recently defended his thesis and now has a PhD in Service Studies at Lund University, has taken a closer look on this. In his thesis Green Retailing – a socio-material analysis he writes about how complex this issue is.
– You could say that the retailers have gotten a new role in recent years. Earlier they just had to think about selling as many articles as possible, but now they are also expected to play a political role for sustainable consumption, Christian Fuentes says in an article at the university’s website.

Read more » >>

Sara Jeswani - Sustainability

January 16, 2012

Christmas gift of the year: Time?

12 comments

One of Gothenburg’s largest shopping centres getting ready for Christmas rush. Photo: Håkan Dahlström  (CC BY)

This weekend is the first Advent Sunday before Christmas. This also means the offical start of Christmas shopping. Every year, the Swedish retail industry research company HUI Research predicts what will be the new “Christmas gift of the year”. During the years, we have seen things like the wok frying pan or the spiked yoga mat being appointed the gift of the year and filling Swedish homes (and then frequently found in flea markets a few years later …).

This year the thing to give away is, according to HUI, a grocery bag subscription. Lately, subscribing to ready-planned dinner schemes, complete with recipes and ingredients, delivered directly to your door, have become popular for busy families. Some of these services have started to come with organic and locally produced food.
“It is new, it sells well and it reflects the times in which we live,” said Emma Hernell at HUI in an article in The Local. Read more » >>

Sara Jeswani - Sustainability

November 24, 2011

Swedish non-muslims choose to live simpler during Ramadan

11 comments

“Laundry was made for drying like this” Photo: Johan Wistbacka (CC BY-NC)

Islam’s fasting month Ramadan is right now celebrated by many of Sweden’s around 400 000 muslims. But a period of thoughtfulness could do a lot of good even to those who aren’t muslims, thought Lisa Aurelius, who was annoyed at so much food being transported across the world to reach Swedish refrigerators. So she started a Facebook group called “One month with a simpler lifestyle”.
- More and more people are discovering that happiness doesn’t live in new stuff, and they feel attracted to what’s more simple and natural, she says to the newspaper Expressen.

And Lisa Aurelius’ idea has gotten lots of followers: More than 11000 persons have now stated that they will live a simpler life during August and on the event’s homepage (in Swedish only) they share their ideas of how to consume less.

One person have turned of her water heater and takes her baths in a local lake. Others eat less meat, let washed clothes dry outside instead of using the tumble drier, or try to live only off what the Swedish nature can give at this time of the year.

I really like Gun Nordell Sörbring’s observation:
“It’s so much easier to have a good life when many people eat together. Since 25 years back we are a group of people who get together with children and grandchildren and share our food: homesmoked perch from our lake (which I could never make myself), different pies with locally grown vegetables, homemade cake with our own currants… //…a wonderful variety to share in the light of the fire and the moon by the shore of lake Barken. And so much less work for each one of us.”

Or Bruno Harrysson’s note from Day 13:
“Yesterday I sold a few windows. Today I’m buying used wooden material. Recycling: One man’s trash – another man’s treasure.”

Islam’s fasting month Ramadan is right now celebrated by many of Sweden’s around 400 000 muslims.
But a period of thoughtfulness could do a lot of good even to those who aren’t muslims, thought Lisa Aurelius, who was annoyed at so much food being transported across the world to reach Swedish refrigerators. So she started a Facebook group called “One month with a simpler lifestyle”.
- More and more people are discovering that happiness doesn’t live in new stuff, and they feel attracted to what’s more simple and natural, she says to the newspaper Expressen. 

And Lisa Aurelius’ idea has gotten lots of followers: More than 11000 persons have now stated that they will live a simpler life during August and on the event’s homepage https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118312194916735 (in Swedish only) they share their ideas of how to consume less.

One person have turned of her water heater and takes her baths in a local lake. Others eat less meat, let washed clothes dry outside instead of using the tumble drier, or try to live only off what the Swedish nature can give at this time of the year.

I really like Gun Nordell Sörbring’s observation:

“It’s so much easier to have a good life when many people eat together. Since 25 years back we are a group of people who get together with children and grandchildren and share our food: homesmoked perch from our lake (which I could never make myself), different pies with locally grown vegetables, homemade cake with our own currants… //…a wonderful variety to share in the light of the fire and the moon by the shore of lake Barken. And so much less work for each one of us.”

Or Bruno Harrysson’s note from Day 13:
Yesterday I sold a few windows. Today I’m buying used wooden material. Recycling: One man’s trash – another man’s treasure.

More than 11000 Swedes have signed up for a simpler life style during August.Even non-muslims live simpler during Ramadan

Islam’s fasting month Ramadan is right now celebrated by many of Sweden’s around 400 000 muslims.
But a period of thoughtfulness could do a lot of good even to those who aren’t muslims, thought Lisa Aurelius, who was annoyed at so much food being transported across the world to reach Swedish refrigerators. So she started a Facebook group called “One month with a simpler lifestyle”.
- More and more people are discovering that happiness doesn’t live in new stuff, and they feel attracted to what’s more simple and natural, she says to the newspaper Expressen.

And Lisa Aurelius’ idea has gotten lots of followers: More than 11000 persons have now stated that they will live a simpler life during August and on the event’s homepage https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118312194916735 (in Swedish only) they share their ideas of how to consume less.

One person have turned of her water heater and takes her baths in a local lake. Others eat less meat, let washed clothes dry outside instead of using the tumble drier, or try to live only off what the Swedish nature can give at this time of the year.

I really like Gun Nordell Sörbring’s observation:

“It’s so much easier to have a good life when many people eat together. Since 25 years back we are a group of people who get together with children and grandchildren and share our food: homesmoked perch from our lake (which I could never make myself), different pies with locally grown vegetables, homemade cake with our own currants… //…a wonderful variety to share in the light of the fire and the moon by the shore of lake Barken. And so much less work for each one of us.”

Or Bruno Harrysson’s note from Day 13:
Yesterday I sold a few windows. Today I’m buying used wooden material. Recycling: One man’s trash – another man’s treasure.

More than 11000 Swedes have signed up for a simpler life style during August.Even non-muslims live simpler during Ramadan

 

Islam’s fasting month Ramadan is right now celebrated by many of Sweden’s around 400 000 muslims.

But a period of thoughtfulness could do a lot of good even to those who aren’t muslims, thought Lisa Aurelius, who was annoyed at so much food being transported across the world to reach Swedish refrigerators. So she started a Facebook group called “One month with a simpler lifestyle”.

- More and more people are discovering that happiness doesn’t live in new stuff, and they feel attracted to what’s more simple and natural, she says to the newspaper Expressen.

 

And Lisa Aurelius’ idea has gotten lots of followers: More than 11000 persons have now stated that they will live a simpler life during August and on the event’s homepage https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118312194916735 (in Swedish only) they share their ideas of how to consume less.

 

One person have turned of her water heater and takes her baths in a local lake. Others eat less meat, let washed clothes dry outside instead of using the tumble drier, or try to live only off what the Swedish nature can give at this time of the year.

I really like Gun Nordell Sörbring’s observation:

“It’s so much easier to have a good life when many people eat together. Since 25 years back we are a group of people who get together with children and grandchildren and share our food: homesmoked perch from our lake (which I could never make myself), different pies with locally grown vegetables, homemade cake with our own currants… //…a wonderful variety to share in the light of the fire and the moon by the shore of lake Barken. And so much less work for each one of us.”

Or Bruno Harrysson’s note from Day 13:

Yesterday I sold a few windows. Today I’m buying used wooden material. Recycling: One man’s trash – another man’s treasure.

 

More than 11000 Swedes have signed up for a simpler life style during August.

Even non-muslims live simpler during Ramadan

 

Islam’s fasting month Ramadan is right now celebrated by many of Sweden’s around 400 000 muslims.

But a period of thoughtfulness could do a lot of good even to those who aren’t muslims, thought Lisa Aurelius, who was annoyed at so much food being transported across the world to reach Swedish refrigerators. So she started a Facebook group called “One month with a simpler lifestyle”.

- More and more people are discovering that happiness doesn’t live in new stuff, and they feel attracted to what’s more simple and natural, she says to the newspaper Expressen.

 

And Lisa Aurelius’ idea has gotten lots of followers: More than 11000 persons have now stated that they will live a simpler life during August and on the event’s homepage https://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=118312194916735 (in Swedish only) they share their ideas of how to consume less.

 

One person have turned of her water heater and takes her baths in a local lake. Others eat less meat, let washed clothes dry outside instead of using the tumble drier, or try to live only off what the Swedish nature can give at this time of the year.

I really like Gun Nordell Sörbring’s observation:

“It’s so much easier to have a good life when many people eat together. Since 25 years back we are a group of people who get together with children and grandchildren and share our food: homesmoked perch from our lake (which I could never make myself), different pies with locally grown vegetables, homemade cake with our own currants… //…a wonderful variety to share in the light of the fire and the moon by the shore of lake Barken. And so much less work for each one of us.”

Or Bruno Harrysson’s note from Day 13:

Yesterday I sold a few windows. Today I’m buying used wooden material. Recycling: One man’s trash – another man’s treasure.

 

More than 11000 Swedes have signed up for a simpler life style during August.

Sara Jeswani - Sustainability

August 24, 2011

The footprints of our mobile lives

110 comments

mobile-phonePhoto: Sigfrid Lundberg (CC BY-SA)

A while ago I got a question about the energy use of smartphones compared to “ordinary” mobil phones. Do they consume more electricity? And what does it all add up to for those who have a job phone, another one for private use, plus an electronic reading pad and one or two computers.

Dipping into this subject I started reading the book Var är du? (Where are you?) by the Swedish journalist Katarina Bjärvall. It’s an excellent book penetrating our use of mobile phones from every possible angle. How do the mobiles affect our sense of here and now? Privacy? Distinction between work and free time? And, not the least, all the environmental aspects.

Smartphones do use more energy than many simpler mobile phones. Advanced programs like Flash, a camera or Wifi eat electricity. But the big crook here isn’t the energy used to run the battery. There are so many other, more hidden, costs that come with our daily use of smart technology. To send and receive these massive amounts of information, we need base station transmitter. Although they have been made more efficient than they used to be, they still consume much more energy than the phone itself. And surfing on the Internet while waiting for the bus, each web page you visit has its own carbon footprint.

But, Katarina Bjärvall points out in her book, the most environmentally harmful part of a mobile phone’s life cycle comes after its “death”. A normal mobile phone contains more than 200 different chemicals. Although a lot of mobiles are left in the Swedish electronic waste bins , there are still many that end up in poor countries, where people dismantle them by hand to recycle the metals.

And of course it’s also the amount of electronic devices we use that matters. The film below has been spread a lot in Sweden, critizicing our way to consume electronics, something that Annie Leonard calls “Designing for the dump”.
Maybe it’s time for thew first cradle-to-cradle phone soon, with a lifetime guarantee? (this could be a challenge for Cradle to Cradle Sweden)

Sara Jeswani - Sustainability

June 13, 2011

Is greener stuff only for rich people?

98 comments

Life is so much more than consumption, but looking at what we consume, the price of an organic product is often used as an argument not to buy it. Saying that more of what you pay ends up with the producer, that it was made in a better way, without poisonous additives or pollutions might not be enough for those who are about to grab for their wallet. Ten Swedish kronor more for an organic fair trade bar of chocolate, or 100 kronor more for a t-shirt, is that reeeeeeeally reasonable?
While if something is cheap, we tend not to make as many calculations before deciding. It doesn’t work? It tastes bad? The t-shirt’s unusable after three washes? Well, it didn’t cost much.

Catharina Östlund, who has founded Wilma&friends which she calls “Sweden’s first webshop for good design with a good conscience”, recently tried with a different model of thinking in a blog post. Why not consider the “price per use” instead? Then buying a cheap t-shirt and using it twice seems like a big waste of money compared to buying one you like and will probably use a lot more, produced in a better way and leving less traces in the environment.

Catharina Östlund takes the example of a certified sofa, with a price that would make most of us, me included, back away. Using that sofa every day for 15 years, would make a cost of 3,65 kronor (about 4 Euro) per day, while having a beer that you undoubtedly just use once, will cost you about 50 kronor (5,5 Euro). What about that logic?

But eating more sustainably actually doesn’t even have to cost more. A study made a few years ago by the Swedish National Institute of Public Health showed that most types of food consumers could even lower their food costs by eating better. 35–40 percent of what we spend on food now goes to things like alcohol, sweets, snacks, soft drinks and cookies – food that isn’t exactly the best for our bodies and also have quite a big climate impact. Why not cut off a bit of that?

The study, also making calcultations for students and pensioners with a very low budget, showed that the food expenditures could even go down with 1500–9000 kronor per year (about 170–1000 Euro), depending on what the original eating habits looked like.

That money could for example be used for buying organic food, suggests the public health institute.

foodEating organic and sustainable doesn’t have to cost more. Photo: Pelle Sten (CC BY)

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pellesten/5561093755/lightbox/food

Sara Jeswani - Sustainability

April 29, 2011