Related papers: Modern consumerism and the waste problem
The current emissions from computing are almost 4% of the world total. This is already more than emissions from the airline industry and are projected to rise steeply over the next two decades. By 2040 emissions from computing alone will…
1.5 billion smartphones are sold annually, and most are decommissioned less than two years later. Most of these unwanted smartphones are neither discarded nor recycled but languish in junk drawers and storage units. This computational…
Despite a growing desire among consumers to shop responsibly, translating this intention into behaviour remains challenging. Previous work has identified that information seeking (or lack thereof) is a contributing factor to this…
A successful response to climate change needs vast investments in low-carbon research, energy, and sustainable development. Governments can drive research, provide environmental regulation, and accelerate global development, but the…
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, ushered by the deeper integration of digital technologies into professional and social spaces, provides an opportunity to meaningfully serve society. Humans have tremendous capability to innovatively…
The utilization of consumer electronics, such as televisions, set-top boxes, home theaters, and air conditioners, has become increasingly prevalent in modern society as technology continues to evolve. As new devices enter our homes each…
The recent democratization of personal fabrication has significantly advanced the maker movement and reshaped applied research in HCI and beyond. However, this growth has also raised increasing sustainability concerns, as material waste is…
While the use of energy storage combined with grid-scale photovoltaic power plants continues to grow, given current lithium-ion battery prices, there remains uncertainty about the profitability of these solar-plus-storage projects. At the…
The consumer store is ubiquitous and plays an important role in our everyday lives. It is an open question why stores usually have such short life cycles (typically around 3 years in China). This paper proposes a theoretical framework based…
Localisation and circularity in perishable food supply chains are essential for sustainability. Poor allocation of time-sensitive food leads to waste, higher transport emissions, and unnecessary long-distance sourcing. Algorithms used in…
In the digital economy, technological innovations make it cheaper to produce high-quality content. For example, generative AI tools reduce costs for creators who develop content to be distributed online, but can also reduce production costs…
Waste heat production represents an inevitable consequence of energy conversion as per the laws of thermodynamics. Based on this fact, by using simple theoretical models, we analyze constraints on the habitability of Earth-like terrestrial…
With online shopping gaining massive popularity over the past few years, e-commerce platforms can play a significant role in tackling climate change and other environmental problems. In this study, we report that the "attitude-behavior" gap…
For those concerned with the long-term value of their accounts, it can be a challenge to plan in the present for inflation-adjusted economic growth over coming decades. Here, I argue that there exists an economic constant that carries…
Global warming due to human-made gases, mainly CO2, is already 0.8{\deg}C and deleterious climate impacts are growing worldwide. More warming is 'in the pipeline' because Earth is out of energy balance, with absorbed solar energy exceeding…
Product cannibalisation is a well-known phenomenon in marketing and technological research and describes the case when a new product steals sales from another product under the same brand. A very special case of cannibalisation may occur…
Light pollution is a worldwide problem that has a range of adverse effects on human health and natural ecosystems. Using data from the New World Atlas of Artificial Night Sky Brightness, VIIRS-recorded radiance and Gross Domestic Product…
The increasing proliferation of electronic devices in the modern era has led to a significant surge in electronic waste (e-waste). Improper disposal and insufficient recycling of e-waste pose serious environmental and health risks. This…
Mini data centres have become increasingly prevalent in diverse organizations in recent years. They can be easily deployed at large scale, with high resilience. They are also cost-effective and provide highsecurity protection. On the other…
Consumer spending accounts for a large fraction of the US economic activity. Increasingly, consumer activity is moving to the web, where digital traces of shopping and purchases provide valuable data about consumer behavior. We analyze…