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Information instruments comprise only few mandatory schemes for the environment-related
information on products with only limited relevance to sustainable
lifestyles. One relevant mandatory informative instrument is European and
national advertising legislation that regulates the use of environmental claims
and certain marketing terms, such as “organic”.
Evidence based measures
for addressing rebound
effects (Maxwell et al.
2011):
• Recognising and
accounting for rebound
effects in the design and
evaluation of policy;
• Use of an integrated
mixture of instruments
encompassing fiscal,
behavioural and
technology;
• Sustainable lifestyles
& behaviour change in
consumers;
• Awareness raising &
education for leveraging
behaviour change in
business.
In addition to mandatory instruments, there are a greater number of voluntary
informative instruments in use in Europe. These include product eco-labelling
(ISO type I), environmental product declarations (EPDs, ISO type III), organic labelling
of food and certification schemes for, as examples, hotels and beaches,
and consumer advice and education. The effectiveness of voluntary informative
instruments has been questioned and there are studies that demonstrate that
information alone is insufficient to achieve change in the face of significant gaps
between consumer attitudes and actual behaviours (Power and Mont 2010).
Policy instruments can, therefore, aim to change consumption practices either
directly through, for instance, product restrictions or indirectly through the application
of economic instruments to influence prices or consumer information.
However, the impacts on actual consumption patterns and lifestyles are hardly
straightforward and a combination of various types of instruments – administrative,
economic and information – is often proposed (DEFRA 2008; Tukker,
Diaz-Lopez et al. 2008). Instrument packages are also seen as critical to preventing
rebound effects (Maxwell et al. 2011).
A recent trend in European policy making is a growing focus on how behaviour
can be changed through various types of non-intrusive, non-mandatory and
non-regulatory policy interventions. This non-regulatory approach to behaviour
change was described as “nudging” by (Thaler and Sunstein 2008) and was defined
as
“[...] any aspect of the choice architecture that alters people’s behaviour in a
predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their
economic incentives. To count as a mere nudge, the intervention must be
easy and cheap to avoid. Nudges are not mandates. Putting the fruit at eye
level counts as a nudge. Banning junk food does not.” (Thaler and Sunstein
2008 p. 8).
This idea is gaining acceptance among policy makers who are reluctant to approach
consumption and lifestyle issues through administrative or economic
instruments that tend to limit individual choice. The focus on choice, therefore,
also highlights the importance of the social context – the social norms and culture
– that was emphasised above in the discussion on administrative instruments.
The following chapter discusses roadmaps, scenarios and visions towards sustainability
from the perspective of different stakeholder groups and presents
research findings regarding the mainstreaming of sustainable lifestyles.
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SUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES: TODAY’S FACTS & TOMORROW’S TRENDS