Page 160 - Sustainability Communication Interdisciplinary Perspectives and Theoritical Foundations

13 Communicating Sustainable Consumption 143

partly implemented – their own SCP activities in different ways. Some national
governments have elaborated their own concepts in action plans and policy pro-
grammes (Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary, Poland and the United Kingdom),
whereas in other states (Austria, France, Italy, Malta, the Netherlands) SCP is
embedded in larger national strategies for sustainable development. Some member
states pursue approaches that focus on single policy instruments, such as greener
public purchasing or eco-labelling (e.g. Denmark, Germany) without an explicit
policy framework document (IÖW et al. 2009).
While there is a steadily growing base of research on sustainable consumption as
well as increasing political consensus, there is still an urgent need to learn more
about how to successfully communicate messages to consumers as a general popu-
lation and to hard-to-reach specific socio-economic and lifestyle groups (the young,
the old, hedonists, the less educated etc.). To date, there is not a conclusive theory
of sustainability communication. Instead different approaches have been developed
that are not integrated into a systematic effort. The broadest approach used is the
social marketing concept (Frame and Newton 2007; Golding 2009; Peattie and
Peattie 2009; McKenzie-Mohr 2000), which has proved successful in the public
health area.

Sustainable Consumption in Different Areas of Basic Needs

The context of relevant everyday structures together with an account of the social
milieu, lifestyle, life situation, attitudes and values yield potential starting points for
communication campaigns oriented to changing consumer behaviour (OECD 2008).
At the same time it shows an overall view of a particular goods supply system, and
also shows the innovation potential on the supply side as well as the potential of
civic institutions such as consumer organizations or the media to disseminate
information and educate the general public.
The European Environmental Agency (EEA 2005: 14) observes that while there
has been some progress “(…) the general trend is an increase in environmental
pressures, because consumption growth is outweighing gains made through
improvements in technology”. According to this report, private households are
directly responsible for one-fourth of final energy use and two-thirds of municipal
waste generation in the EU. A study on behalf of the Directorate-General for the
Environment identified three main areas contributing to about 70–80% of environ-
mental pressures, namely food/drink, housing and private mobility (Tukker et al.
2006). On the other hand, through their purchasing decisions, households can
influence the market penetration of ‘socially sound’ products. For instance, in the
United Kingdom, fair trade labelled products have a 5% market share of tea, a 5.5%
share of bananas, and a 20% share of ground coffee (Golding 2009).
By using intelligent technologies and new materials in production processes,
from design-for-environment strategies in product design and alternative service
and use concepts, there are great opportunities to achieve ecological savings and