Material Services with Both Eyes Wide Open

Abstract

Abstract:Energy has been at the forefront of the sustainable development discourse for quite some time as policymakers, industry heads and society at large have taken progressive steps to cut carbon via renewable energy technologies and energy efficiency measures. Unfortunately, some of these methods have given rise to perverse socio-environmental effects; as materials have been unnecessarily sacrificed, mines and wells have opened and plantations grown, in the name of energy saving. This paper contributes to clean energy-orientated policies and practices by exploring the discipline of sustainable materials. We first review two strategies: energy efficiency linked to materials; and material efficiency, meaning "doing more with less." We find that, although both contribute significantly, they are hampered by the rebound effect and their focus on "doing less bad" rather than "good". Furthermore, they do not in themselves evaluate the services and societal wellbeing that materials provide. We then define "material services" and propose a wider strategy that encompasses and enhances the previous two. Under the new strategy, we argue that sustainable materials should be considered as those that do no harm and which optimally, through the services provided, contribute to better sustainable development policies and practices.

Sustainable Development, Wellbeing and Material Consumption: A Stoic Perspective

“…Consequently, reducing consumption does not only concern environmental limits but also plays on the public psyche, as any policies that do not encourage growth are perceived to be an attack on our way of life, precisely because they present a threat to the possibility of increasing public and personal wellbeing. Yet, as Carmona et al [3] contest, a consumer does not actually want, or indeed require, material x nor y, but rather the service which either (or both) materials provide. In which case, it is the material services, rather than the material products, that the economic system ought to be designed to deliver [75].…”

“…The near-universal acceptance of money and the capitalistic/consumerist ideal is something that Harari [3] argues most individuals (unfortunately) live up to, perhaps more so than their religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs. In fact, the authority given to "market forces" as a sovereign leader of the Earth, rather than a subject reined in by its physical limitations, bears an uncanny resemblance to the god Spinoza describes in Ethics [4] to the point of being able to cite it near word for word: "(Money is to be), endowed with human freedom, to take care of all things for men, make all things for their use and direct all things for the use of men in order to bind men and be held by men in the highest honour.…”

“…All 14, originally defined by Carmona et al [3], were experienced by Stoics in Classical Greece and Ancient Rome. Furthermore, whilst modernity has improved the quality of those services, the nature of them and the benefits they provide would be recognisable to the Ancient populations of Greek and Roman cities.…”

“…In which case, it is the material services, rather than the material products, that the economic system ought to be designed to deliver [75]. Whereby a material service constitutes [3]:…”

“…This is because a considerable number of material flows support the material and energy services on which society and the current economic system depend [1]. Just sixty years ago, relatively few elements were widely used to support most applications, but today complex mixtures of up to two-thirds of the periodic table, have become the norm [2,3]. The problem is not the use of materials per se but rather a failure to accommodate/address the environmental or social issues that have occurred as a result of mass extraction.…”