Households and the environment

A recent report from the European Environmental agency discusses the impact of household consumption on the environment. Households make final choices on goods and services they consume, and drive a production chain. Although the impact of an individual household is relatively small, Europe's 200 million households are a major contributor to problems such as climate change, air pollution, water pollution, land use and waste. The report reviews 4 types of consumption activities with major environmental impact where consumers can make a large difference:

1. food & drink: a third of a household's environmental impact, and clearly an area where consumer choice matters.
2. housing: energy use and waste are on the increase, but water use is decreasing.
3. personal travel: we travel more, further and faster. But emissions per passenger.km are decreasing due to technological improvements.
4. Tourism: growing rapidly (3.8% per year) and increasing its negative impact on the environment as rapidly.

The report concludes that consumption growth is outweighing eco-efficiency improvements, and warns that many environmental pressuers are expected to continue to grow if no further action is taken.