Pathways for Promoting Sustainable Consumption: How Governments Can Initiate Effective Education for Sustainable Consumption

This chapter investigates government mechanisms for implementing strategic Education for Sustainable Consumption (ESC). ESC is vital to increase individual participation in sustainable consumption, and also to provide the means for an individual to begin to incorporate the principles of sustainable development into everyday life. Specifically, this chapter will look at the following areas:

• Consumer education for sustainable consumption should address ways to influence the individual consumer at the level of personal decision-making on consumption and how to develop a supportive social infrastructure that fosters sustainable consumption.

• The identification of the five primary mechanisms to promote sustainable consumption provides the basic outline of how ESC is understood and investigated in this chapter.

• Policy implications for the general structure and specific content of effective ESC policies are highlighted.

• A Five-Point Strategy to plan ESC provides a step-by-step process for planning and implementing an effective campaign on consumer education for sustainable consumption.