Consumer behaviour

Our current lifestyle must answer societal challenges in the form of sustainable consumption development. The environmental impacts of personal consumption include resource use for the production and use of consumer goods. The extent of resource consumption in context with these goods is governed by production efficiency, buyer decision including the no-purchase option (sufficiency), and use efficiency. Different societal tendencies in the consumption sector could facilitate optimised resource use, e.g. concepts of the sharing economy or the departure from traditional individual ownership of appliances and vehicles could present novel options for sustainable development. Product information detailing resource consumption could contribute to sustainable purchase decisions. ifeu explores environmental burdens like the resource consumption consequences of different consumer decisions and options for sustainable consumer behaviour in a range of projects.

Contact

Birte Ewers

M.Sc. Economics
+49 (0)6221 4767 76
[email protected]

Anja Kathan

M.Sc. Environmental Management and Physical Planning
+49 (0)6221 4767 102
[email protected]

Projects

Support the Competence Centre for Sustainable Consumption

Sustainable consumption plays a central role in achieving Germany’s climate, environmental, and resource conservation goals. Through the National Program for Sustainable Consumption, the German…

Антон Мазаев_stock.adobe.com

FreiRess: Conserving resources in the leisure sector

How much raw material do our leisure activities require? What greenhouse gases are released in connec-tion with these activities? And how can we organise our leisure time in a more resource-friendly…

Indicators for sustainable consumption

Data collection, further development and application for the National Programme on Sustainable Consumption in Germany

Measuring and informing sustainable consumption – What market share do green products have? How have consumption-related emissions per capita developed since 1990?

Mehrstöckiges Lagerregal in einem Recyclingzentrum mit Reihen von ausgebauten Autotüren und -fenster.

sorin - stock.adobe.com

Resource-efficient vehicles - AutoRess

AutoRess examines technical and non-technical options across all vehicle lifecycle phases to reduce the impact of traffic on climate protection and resource consumption.

The Limits to Consumption

Sustainable consumption within planetary boundaries, considering global demand dynamics

In this project we identify sustainable consumption patterns in a future, greenhouse gas-neutral world within the planetary boundaries. We contrast these sustainable consumption patterns with current…

Umweltbundesamt (UBA)

Updating and further development of the UBA CO₂ calculator

Scientific basis of personal CO₂ footprints: updating and further development of relevant calculation methods and data

Since 2007, ifeu has been working in cooperation with KlimAktiv on the development, expansion, and continuous improvement of the UBA CO₂ calculator. As part of the current project, the data underlying…

DeuRess II - Resource Report for Germany 2022

In the DeuRess II project, we are preparing the third resource report for Germany on behalf of the Federal Environment Agency.

Titelbild Handlungsleitfaden

Evaluation of the project MehrWert NRW

The project shows the benefits and trends of climate-friendly lifestyles. Households in North Rhine-Westphalia are supported and motivated to make a contribution to climate protection in the areas of…

PeerSharing

This project investigates the sustainability of the use of innovative online platforms which mediate the rental, sale, purchase or exchange of products and services between private individuals. Four…