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Kristiina Aalto
National Consumer Research Centre

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Journal article
Published: 29 June 2012 in Sustainability
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The article assesses the material footprints of households living on a minimum amount of social benefits in Finland and discusses the consequences in terms of ecological and social sustainability. The data were collected using interviews and a questionnaire on the consumption patterns of 18 single households. The results are compared to a study on households with varying income levels, to average consumption patterns and to decent minimum reference budgets. The low-income households have lower material footprints than average and most of the material footprints are below the socially sustainable level of consumption, which is based on decent minimum reference budgets. However, the amount of resources used by most of the households studied here is still at least double that required for ecological sustainability. The simultaneous existence of both deprivation and overconsumption requires measures from both politicians and companies to make consumption sustainable. For example, both adequate housing and economic mobility need to be addressed. Measures to improve the social sustainability of low-income households should target reducing the material footprints of more affluent households. Furthermore, the concept of what constitutes a decent life should be understood more universally than on the basis of standards of material consumption.

ACS Style

Michael Lettenmeier; Tuuli Hirvilammi; Senja Laakso; Satu Lähteenoja; Kristiina Aalto. Material Footprint of Low-Income Households in Finland—Consequences for the Sustainability Debate. Sustainability 2012, 4, 1426 -1447.

AMA Style

Michael Lettenmeier, Tuuli Hirvilammi, Senja Laakso, Satu Lähteenoja, Kristiina Aalto. Material Footprint of Low-Income Households in Finland—Consequences for the Sustainability Debate. Sustainability. 2012; 4 (7):1426-1447.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Michael Lettenmeier; Tuuli Hirvilammi; Senja Laakso; Satu Lähteenoja; Kristiina Aalto. 2012. "Material Footprint of Low-Income Households in Finland—Consequences for the Sustainability Debate." Sustainability 4, no. 7: 1426-1447.

Journal article
Published: 24 November 2011 in Journal of Consumer Policy
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The aim of this article was to analyse an attempt to promote sustainable consumption by shaping the conditions for consumption. In particular, the focus lies on sustainable public catering as an approach to shaping both the supply of and demand for sustainable meals. In order to capture the processes of governing consumption, the way is traced in which rationalities (ways of thinking and calculating), technologies (means and instruments), visibilities (concrete manifestations), and identities (types of agents assumed) related to a policy intervention for sustainable public catering are interpreted and recreated by three main groups of actors involved: policy makers, catering professionals, and consumers. This analysis highlights the active role of practitioners in realizing policies for sustainable consumption. It has implications for policy makers and analysts: Reflexive policies should heed to actors’ unfolding interpretations as they can take the policy process in different directions.

ACS Style

Stefan Wahlen; Eva Heiskanen; Kristiina Aalto. Endorsing Sustainable Food Consumption: Prospects from Public Catering. Journal of Consumer Policy 2011, 35, 7 -21.

AMA Style

Stefan Wahlen, Eva Heiskanen, Kristiina Aalto. Endorsing Sustainable Food Consumption: Prospects from Public Catering. Journal of Consumer Policy. 2011; 35 (1):7-21.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stefan Wahlen; Eva Heiskanen; Kristiina Aalto. 2011. "Endorsing Sustainable Food Consumption: Prospects from Public Catering." Journal of Consumer Policy 35, no. 1: 7-21.

Conference paper
Published: 02 November 2011 in Proceedings of The 1st World Sustainability Forum
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A decent, or sufficient, lifestyle is largely considered an important objective in terms of a sustainable future. From an ecological sustainability point of view, a the natural resource consumption of a decent lifestyle should not exceed the long-term carrying capacity of nature. The material footprint based on the MIPS concept (material input per unit of service) can be used as an indicator of the natural resource consumption of lifestyles. Thus, it can provide a rough indication of the long-term ecological sustainability of lifestyles when compared to the level of natural resource consumption that is estimated sustainable. Previous research shows that low-income households consume a relatively small amount of resources. Thus the material footprint of their consumption is assumed to be closer to the ecologically sustainable level of resource use than the consumption of an average household. In order to show the amount of natural resources a minimum consumption level requires, this paper presents the material footprint of households living on a minimum level of social benefits in the Finnish welfare state. The data was collected in a questionnaire on the consumption habits and lifestyles of 18 single households belonging to the lowest income decile in Finland. The results are compared to the results of a previous study on the material footprints of households with varying income levels as well as of an average Finn. In addition, the results are compared to the material footprint of decent minimum reference budgets defined consensually by the Finnish National Consumer Research Centre in a cooperation of experts and a consumer panel. The results show that the low-income households have a lower material footprint than average. Thus, a decrease in material footprint by a factor of 2 - 4 from present average can already be achieved. However, the resource consumption of all the households studied is still higher, in most cases by a factor of 2 and more, than long-term ecological sustainability would require although it is in most cases lower than the material footprint of the social and economic minimum defined for a decent life. The paper discusses this discrepancy and presents conclusions in order to make future lifestyles more sustainable. The central conclusion is that ecologically sustainable consumption cannot be achieved solely by households\' efforts but there is a great need for innovations in technology, business and politics.

ACS Style

Michael Lettenmeier; Kristiina Aalto; Senja Laakso; Tuuli Hirvilammi; Satu Lähteenoja. Material Footprint of Low-income Households in Finland – is it Sustainable? Proceedings of The 1st World Sustainability Forum 2011, 1 .

AMA Style

Michael Lettenmeier, Kristiina Aalto, Senja Laakso, Tuuli Hirvilammi, Satu Lähteenoja. Material Footprint of Low-income Households in Finland – is it Sustainable? Proceedings of The 1st World Sustainability Forum. 2011; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Michael Lettenmeier; Kristiina Aalto; Senja Laakso; Tuuli Hirvilammi; Satu Lähteenoja. 2011. "Material Footprint of Low-income Households in Finland – is it Sustainable?" Proceedings of The 1st World Sustainability Forum , no. : 1.