Work-Life-Balance – Only a Buzz word?
by silke on April 18, 2012
For my last project, I interviewed 6 German consumers of different age-groups, with different jobs, educations and family situations. I was surprised to hear from a majority of them (as this is a pretty small sample it doesn’t really make sense to name numbers) that they have deliberatly decided to reduce their working hours. They told me that the gained free-time is more than worth the loss of income.
Is this mere coincidence?
Anyway, I somehow understand.
I love my job! At work, I learn and laugh a lot. Normally, I am not only extrinsically but also intrinsically motivated to do my job.
But sometimes I feel that I have to bear the brunt. My life seems to ONLY consist of work – and other important aspects have to take the back seat: Meeting friends, reading, seeing the Edvard Munch exhibition, exercising or just taking a walk appear to be unaffordable luxury goods.
These are only my personal experiences, but – if you listen – you can hear it everywhere:
cc by polyp.org.uk
Exaggerated: Either one has no work or too much work. There seems to be no in-between (anymore). Work-Life-Balance, where are you?
This cannot be good for the individual. (Burn-out! Again, only a buzz-word?)
But this also cannot be healthy for our society nor is it good for employers (at least on the long run).
“Reduced working hours have been sought for their own sake for various reasons. One of these, ironically, was in the belief that it would increase labour productivity. (…) The reasoning behind this is that when people work shorter hours they are more productive during those hours because they are better rested, more alert and fitter.”
Tim Jackson (2011): Prosperity without Growth, p. 180
But how to establish long-term thinking in an economy which is pushed on by share prices, mid-year-reviews and operating figures.
VW Germany recently implemented a new policy: Their employees can now only receive emails with their blackberry during working hours.
Bye-bye, “24-7″!?
Is this the beginning of a the counter-culture? Sometimes, I hope so.
Eco consciousness & eco-friendly behaviour
by silke on April 10, 2012
The direct environmental impact of private household consumption in industrialized countries is estimated to be 30-40% of the overall impact, the indirect impact (incl. production, transportation, etc.) is even higher.
Hence, private consumption is an important part of the environmental issue.
Usually, Germans are seen as pathfinders in terms of environmental consciousness and eco-friendly behaviours. Taking a closer look at multinational studies, we see that German consumers are more aware of e.g. climate chance and other environmental issues and their impacts. But when it comes to concrete environmental-friendly behaviour, e.g. the willingness to pay more for energy-efficient products etc., Germans are hardly better than the average.
cc by blackyuuki
These findings are clearly contradicting the wide-spread assumption, that people with high ecological awareness are likely to also behave in eco-friendly ways.
Indeed, a number of studies show that there is only a moderate correlation between environment-related attitudes and behaviours.
(–> awareness/ attitudes only explaining about 10% of the variance in behaviours)
Nevertheless, environmental awareness and eco-friendly attitudes are important: They form the public opinion and thus influence political and economic decision makers towards activities and measures which help protect the environment.
After Fukushima, we saw an outcry against atomic energy in the German public which finally resulted in the political decision towards the nuclear power phase-out.
As private households have such an important impact on the environment, social research now tries to understand the situational conditions and circumstances under which environmental awareness would lead to the selection of more eco-friendly consumption alternatives.
Not very surprisingly, consumers are more likely to act according to their environmental awareness the lower the costs of eco-friendly consumption options are. Please note that those costs not only include higher purchase prices, they also refer to more information needs, more time efforts due to longer ways to the next organic supermarket etc. and not least: lack of social prestige when deciding for a fuel-efficient car.
It is hence essential to reduce costs and barriers of eco-friendly consumption options in order to stimulate comsumption patterns which are in line with the comparable high environmental awareness of German consumers.
Important steps in this direction are (IMHO):
- reliable eco labels which help reduce information needs
- availability of eco-friendly product, e.g. in supermarkets
- extension of public transport, car-sharing, cycle-sharing, etc.
- the offering of energy-efficient products and services at reasonable prices
- the subsidising of alternative sources of energy also for private households, etc.
But those measures are far from being perfect and all-embracing. They are only the beginning of a longer development.
Source: Diekmann/Preisendörfer (2001): Umweltsoziologie, p. 94-123
This is only a first overview: Please expect to read more about the environmental consciousness and eco-friendly behaviours of German consumers in this blog soon.
Organic Food: Drivers vs. Benefits
by silke on April 2, 2012
What are the main reasons for Germans to buy organic food? Why are they willing to pay more for organic than for conventional food?
Based on the BÖLN 2012 (a representative study amongst Germans of 18y. and older), the following points are the main drivers for buying organic food:
- Ethical husbandry
- Regional production, support of local farmers
- Healthiness: Less harmfull substances / less additives
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To what extent is organic food able to meet those expections?
Ethical husbandry
It is a fact: “Eco animals” have more spacious stables, more free range and in general more opportunities for species-appropriate behaviours than in conventional agriculture. Compared to the EU eco label, German eco logos such as demeter, bioland, and naturland have even higher standards regarding husbandry, animal welfare, transportation, etc.
Examples:
- The EU eco logo works with the same transport standards as conventional production (8h and more), livestock transports are limited to 4 hours or 200km by bioland, naturland and demeter.
- The EU eco label allows 580 broilers per hectar, the 3 German eco logos reduce the number of broilers per hectar to 280 broilers.
Consumers who are concerned about ethical husbandry seem to be well advised to prefer organic animal products over regular ones, or – even better – animal products with German eco logos.
cc by law_keven
Regional production
The main reasons for buying regional produce is to support the local farmers and to save GHG emissions by cutting short the transport distance.
One of the problems is that “labelling” is difficult because there is no binding definition of “regional produce”, yet. E.g. must all ingredients of regional food be from local production? The German ministry of consumer protection is currently working on such a definition.
Moreover, the GHG emissions not only depend on the transportation routes but also on storage conditions: The cooled storage of German apples which are sold in spring causes comparable amounts of GHG than the shippment of freshly gathered apples from abroad.
Hence, regional production is no guarantee for climate-friendliness, it is also important to buy regional products in season.
cc by msr
Healthiness
Several studies show that organic milk contains more omega 3 acids than conventional milk because the organic cows feed on fresh grass and hay.
For most other organic foodstuff, its advantage over conventional production is highly controversial if not disproved when it comes to nutritional value.
But organic products are almost free of residues of potentially harmful substances: Organic farmers are not allowed use chemical fertilizers, pesticides and herbicides, growth hormones or antibiotics. And, only 50 out of 300 additives are approved for organic food.
Of course, food from conventional production is also tested regualarly and only very rarely exceeds the critical values, but the effects of combinations of those substances on the organism is not yet fully investigated.
In a nutshell, people who are concerned about the environment, animal welfare and healthy nutrition, organic food seems to be the better alternative compared to food from conventional production.
Sources: BÖLN 2012; BÖLW 2012; Zeit series on organic food: N°13/2012 (Sorry! all in German)
Bambados: Europe’s first low-energy certified public swimming pool
by silke on März 26, 2012
The World Heritage Site Bamberg now has yet another point of interest: Europe’s first low-energy public swimming pool which was certified based on passive-house standards. Due to its groundbreaking architecture and energy concept which was accompanied by the Passivhausinstitut in Darmstadt, Bambados manages with 60% less energy and 80% less CO2 emissions than “normal” public swimming facitilies.
65% of the remaining energy demand is covered by renewable energy sources: A highly efficient biomass block power station and a solar plant which was mainly funded by residents.
Video: The story of stuff
by silke on Februar 29, 2012
In the video “The story of stuff” Annie Leonard describes in a fun and comprehensible way the implications of our (Western) production and consumption patterns on the global environment and also on the growing inequity between the developed and the developing world.
See yourself and enjoy!
For more videos please visit The Story of Stuff website
Video: UNEP – the social in the green economy
by silke on Februar 19, 2012
Just stumbled across a very interesting video from UNEP.
It broaches the issue of sustainability through a social scientific perspective.
Please have a look yourself:
Main take-outs
Definitions
- sustainable development = environmental + economic + social development
- social development includes improvement of human well-being and social equity
- green economy = low carbon growth + resource efficiency + social inclusivity
Main assumptions
- We are facing a triple crisis.
triple crisis = socio-political + economic + environmental crises - It is not possible to solve the first two parts of the triple crisis through technological advancement alone
- The transformation has to involve social change: new regulations and institutions, but also a worldwide discussion on social norms and values
- The ecological crisis can be harnessed to solve all three parts of the triple crisis by acting as a driver for a new round of economic growth
Weaknesses of the green economy concept
- imposing a green washing consensus on the developing world and thus closing off the space for alternatives
- failing to address the issue that infinite growth is not possible on a finite planet
- trying to decouple growth from environmental destruction
Quotes: opulence of products and the manoeuvres of advertisment
by silke on Februar 16, 2012
In Western economies, we are offered a mind-blowing number of products and services. The number of products/ services is often so huge and the products/ services are so similar, that selling them is getting more and more difficult.
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“Privately produced goods and services for use and consumption are abundantly available. So available are they, indeed, that a large expenditure on talented advertising and salesmanship is needed to persuade people to want what is produced.”
John Kenneth Galbraith: On the continuing influence of affluence. in: Tim Jackson (2006): The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption, p.34
Hence, Marketing and Branding gain in importance. The makers have to find ways to differentiate their products/ services from competition – and to stimulate demand and consumption by evoking or creating consumer needs, which often yields peculiar results:
Quote: role of consumption in modern society
by silke on Februar 13, 2012
“Our consumption patterns offer a complex, yet telling picture of the kind of society we have become and of our relationship to material goods. The evidence on consumer behaviour suggests that consumer goods and services play a huge variety of roles in our lives. Among these roles we must include at least: the satisfaction of functional needs, the construction of identity, the pursuit of status and social distinction, the maintenance of social cohesion, social and/or sexual selection, negotiation of the boundary between the sacred and the profane, and the pursuit of personal and collective meaning.”
Tim Jackson (2006): The Earthscan Reader in Sustainable Consumption, p.8cc by Urban Daguerreotype
