DESIGNING FOR SUSTAINABILITY- PART 2

摘要

As market forces drive the success and failure of products on the market, true sustainable living can only be achieved if consumers have a good understanding of how sustainable different products are, and base their purchasing decisions on this understanding. Although many consumers are now more discerning about the environmental sustainability of products they buy, most still make choices based only on personal perception of how sustainable a product may be. This is because people often need to make on-the-spot decisions to choose from a range of alternatives when they are shopping. Their perception of a product's environmental sustainability can be heavily influenced by the media, the manufacturer's marketing and even hearsay. This often leads to misinformed views of which product is more environmentally sustainable than its competitors. So despite the desire of the consumer to purchase the more sustainable option, they often end up not doing so.