Related papers: Modern consumerism and the waste problem
Climate change has become intertwined with the global economy. Here, we describe the importance of inertia to continued growth in energy consumption. Drawing from thermodynamic arguments, and using 38 years of available statistics between…
The material footprint of information and communications technology (ICT) systems is both significant and growing, inspiring a variety of conversations around sustainability and climate justice. In part this effort has been catalysed by…
In making models for biological systems one expects to grasp the biology and be able to use ones intuition to predict the outcome. This paper is about the discrepancy between what is expected and what is the outcome of the analysis of the…
There are clear benefits associated with a particular consumer choice for many current markets. For example, as we consider here, some products might carry environmental or `green' benefits. Some consumers might value these benefits while…
The development in electronic sector has brought a remarkable change in the life style of mankind. At the same time this technological advancement results adverse effect on environment due to the use of toxic and non degradable materials in…
Consumer lighting plays a significant role in the development of smart cities and smart villages. With the advancement of (IoT) technology, smart lighting solutions have become more prevalent in residential areas as well. These solutions…
Smartphone manufacturers continue to release new models annually, yet the pace of meaningful innovation has slowed, with most changes limited to incremental updates in design, performance, or software. This study examines whether such…
When producing electricity that collects the mass energy that is available at the time of the induced disintegration of radioactive elements, other unstable elements are produced with half-life span durations ranging from less than one…
The emergence of the branded recommerce channel - digitally enabled and branded marketplaces that facilitate purchasing pre-owned items directly from a manufacturer's e-commerce site - leads to new variants of classic IS and economic…
Replacing conventional devices with smart ones has many advantages, e.g., a seamless integration of physical objects into the users digital environment or improved modes of use. However, if a conventional device is replaced by a smart…
The traditional cycle of industrial products has been linear since its inception. Raw resources are acquired, processed, distributed, used and ultimately disposed of. This linearity has led to a dangerously low efficiency degree in resource…
Robust and credible material flow data are required to support the ongoing efforts to reconcile the economic and social benefits of plastics with their human and environmental health impacts. This study presents a global, but regionalized,…
With mobile shopping surging in popularity, people are spending ever more money on digital purchases through their mobile devices and phones. However, few large-scale studies of mobile shopping exist. In this paper we analyze a large data…
In the past several years, scientists have issued a series of warnings about the threats of climate change and other forms of environmental disruption. Here, we provide a scientists' warning on how technology affects these issues.…
Much of today's sustainability discourse emphasizes efficiency, clean technologies, and smart systems, but largely underestimates fundamental physical constraints relating to energy-matter interactions. These constraints stem from the fact…
With the progressive digitalisation of a majority of services to communities and individuals, humankind is facing new challenges. While energy sources are rapidly dwindling and rigorous choices have to be made to ensure the sustainability…
We live in an age of consumption with an ever-increasing demand of already scarce resources and equally fast growing problems of waste generation and climate change. To tackle these difficult issues, we must learn from mother nature. Just…
Security and safety are intertwined concepts in the world of computing. In recent years, the terms "sustainable security" and "sustainable safety" came into fashion and are being used referring to a variety of systems properties ranging…
The process of technological change can be regarded as a non-deterministic system governed by factors of a cumulative nature that generate cyclical phenomena. In this context, the process of growth and decline of technology can be…
Simple economic and performance arguments suggest appropriate lifetimes for main memory pages and suggest optimal page sizes. The fundamental tradeoffs are the prices and bandwidths of RAMs and disks. The analysis indicates that with…