Questioning consumers’ needs 
and promoting immaterial consumption

• Nurenberg: 99 waste-free gifts
• Vienna: Encouraging shift to immaterial consumption 

99 waste-free gifts

Nuremberg, a German city of Northern Bavaria, counts about 500,000 inhabitants, with some 268,000 households. The City uses the example of Christmas gifts to promote dematerialisation. This


For Christmas 1999, the city published a leaflet aiming to promote low-waste and low-pollution products. In this leaflet, the city encourages creativity in choosing the gifts and wrapping them. It also advices on how to choose the Christmas tree and decorations, and gives tips to reduce food wastage and promotes consumption of local products. 

Different approaches are suggested for choosing presents: 

• gifts with reduced environmental impacts, with a longer lifespan, such as 
• battery-free watch, recycled letter paper, organic products e.g. wine, 
• homemade presents such as personal cookbook, jam,
• vouchers for drawing lessons, a visit to the hairdresser, a massage, 
• useful gifts such as a telephone card, a public transport pass. 

A list of 99 presents following these alternative approaches complements the brochure. They are very practical examples of what one can choose to dematerialise Christmas. Useful contact details are even provided for theatre, language courses, etc. 
Also related to Christmas gifts, the City organises each year the market of the “long faces” in cooperation with the second-hand store “Mach mit”. There, citizens can put Christmas presents that they didn’t really want on auction; 10% of the benefits are donated for an ecological project. 

Permanent information to support waste prevention 

This campaign is part of an overall waste prevention strategy which the city of Nuremberg has been developing since 1990. It has been the first German city to introduce its own local laws encouraging waste reduction. The waste management bye-law covers waste prevention and waste separation for recycling. The City Council controls its enforcement and business have the obligation to act in line with the law. A waste disposal fee system is designed to complement and reinforce these bye-laws. It gives a strong financial incentive to households and businesses to reduce and to separate their waste. 

However, to increase acceptance of the different waste management measures, a strong information of citizens is essential. Information is also required to increase knowledge of the various alternatives for waste prevention and disposal. A pillar of this permanent information is the direct contact with citizens. With the infocar, citizens as well as businesses can benefit from mobile waste consultation. In 2001, the infocar has been present in the pedestrian precinct, in shopping centres and large housing estates, on meetings and celebrations, in schools and kindergartens, etc. 
Brochures and leaflets are also regularly published on a number of topics, and in several languages to address the need of the multicultural population of Nuremberg.

More information

Encouraging shift to immaterial consumption 

Vienna: Waste increase calls for a strong preventive approach 

Waste reduction is the priority in Vienna. Since 2000, a budget of 3 million Euros per year for a period of 10 years has been allocated to this approach. This political decision was taken on the basis of scientific studies. 

Without successful waste prevention and recycling, total waste production would increase by 40% in weight, between 2000 and 2010. While in the best case, waste prevention could limit the waste increase to only 6% (35% of waste avoided). 

A successful waste prevention strategy could achieve up to 50% reduction in waste management costs. 
The studies demonstrated that instead of investing in new waste incinerators to tackle the increase in waste production, prevention measures would be more financially profitable for the city. 

Waste prevention adapted to target groups 

Current product-oriented solutions in Europe often aim at reuse or continued use, or extension of useful life, as well as the removal of harmful substances prior to recovery or disposal. Vienna goes one step further and considers waste prevention in the broader perspective of lifestyles. Indeed, depending on their incomes, citizens will contribute differently to waste production or waste prevention. The Austrian population can be split into 2 groups, corresponding to 2 approaches of waste prevention: 

• the 50% of Austrians who earn 80% of the money in the country (with 25% of Austrian earning 53% of the money), 
• the other 50% earning the rest. 

The lower incomes would better contribute through a resource optimal consumption. They need information on the products to choose the more ecologically- and economically-sound products. Such an approach covers for instance high-quality consumption, consumption of durable goods, high-quality and repair friendly-products, etc. It includes dematerialised consumption, for instance of miniaturised, multi-purpose products. 

On the other hand, the richer should rather be encouraged to to spend their money into services rather than into products, since a shift to immaterial consumption is only possible when basic needs have been satisfied. 

Immaterial consumption: a new lifestyle with individual and collective benefits 

Developing immaterial consumption corresponds to the adoption of a new lifestyle, mainly by those with a high income. It consists in increasing the demand for services in the field of culture, social matters, education and leisure. No material products are need for satisfying this demand. Thus, as the purchasing power within a region is constant, the increase in immaterial consumption automatically lowers the material consumption, the use of natural resources and the amount of waste produced. In the future, material consumption should only focus on satisfying essential needs.

Concerning entertainment, often spent watching TV, the city takes a more radical attitude and denounces the passivity and isolation resulting from such an activity. Thus, Vienna’s inhabitants are encouraged to change from a passive entertainment consumption to an active and educative one. They are invited to seize the many opportunities offered in Vienna and to enjoy social and friendly activities such as concerts and theatres, or games to play at home. 

Immaterial consumption creates jobs 

The promotion of services and culture should not only contribute to improving the ecological situation but also the individual and collective well-being of consumers as well as the number and quality of jobs provided. 

According to the research of Vienna University, the demand for immaterial consumption can increase indefinitely, without damage to the environment or over-consumption of resources, but with clear benefits to the local economic and social situation. Indeed, since immaterial consumption mainly takes the form of social and cultural services, it can only be satisfied by local production and thus results in local job creations. Hence, contrary to material goods, cultural goods and services encourage common, shared and long term use of existing facilities (such as the many century old Vienna Opera) and are much more job intensive than goods manufacture.

More information

Return to "Supporting change in lifestyle"