Minimal consumption scenario
This is a thought-experiment to look at the minimum amount of resources needed to sustain modern first-world-ish lives (or healthier). Some basic requirements include:
- Enough food and nutrition
(...)( this means there should be enough calories, protein, fibre, vitamins and minerals - it should be enough to sustain an active lifestyle, not just a sedentary one ) - Enough housing
(...)( that everyone could at least have their own room ) (...)( housing with utilities including water, electricity, internet, etc ) , and other spaces - Not being overworked; there should be enough time for friends/family/etc
- Fun things to do beyond just surviving lol
This is NOT a build-from-scratch scenario. The world already has plenty of houses, buildings, infrastructure etc. If we can use what we got, it's a lot greener.
The scenario
Food
- More plant-based. Animal products would be only a small fraction of food.
- Preventing food waste (both personal and commercial)
Non-food items
- A culture of "not buying anything new if it's available used"
- Never throwing out things unless they're broken
- People who want to de-clutter their homes (or move) would give things away
- Gift economies would be global, allowing currently-poor countries to have more material wealth
- Electronics
- Software wouldn't be bloated, so it would work fine on older computers & phones.
- Hardware would be designed with right to repair in mind.
- New goods would still be manufactured when used ones aren't available.
Transport
- Neighborhoods would be walkable
- Public transit would be available (except in places where it would actually use more fuel than driving)
- People would carpool as much as possible
Buildings
- Heating would be as geothermal as possible
- Home electricity usage (other than heating) would stay the same; it's a small enough part of global energy usage anyway.
Results
Analysis needed: To what extent would all of this reduce:
- Energy demand
- Factory labor
- Minerals mined
- Pollution
With the reduced energy demand, does green energy become more viable?
If you want to help with the analysis, join the discussion.