Car Sharing, Used Phones Less Green Than Thought: Study

Most people in the Netherlands are convinced that their consumption patterns affect the environment. Many of them are looking for ways to reduce their footprint. Businesses, some with good intentions, tap into that concern by claiming their products and services can help customers lower emissions and use fewer materials.

However, the reality is more complicated, according to research by Leiden PhD candidate Levon Amatuni. The researcher, with roots in Canada, Russia and Armenia, focused specifically on car sharing and the reuse of phones. Amatuni is driven by his own passion for sharing things and purchasing second-hand. He used his background in computer science and mathematics for his PhD in Industrial Ecology to model and measure the benefits of such practices.

Highly influential rebound effects

His research shows that, on average, users of car-sharing platforms reduce their impact by only three to eighteen per cent - much less than the 51 per cent or 37 per cent claimed in previous research. This is caused by so-called 'rebound effects', which are rarely accounted for by companies or even researchers.

For example, shared vehicles are replaced with new models more frequently than private cars. Additionally, the introduction of sharing schemes can encourage people to drive when they would have otherwise taken a bus or ridden a bike. These rebound effects turn out to be highly influential.

From the Dutch and North American data Amatuni studied, he also found that users of sharing platforms do not significantly reduce their driving. 'And if they do, they often take buses and trains, which are not emission-free', he says. While public transport is usually a better option, its impact is not negligible. So, this data must be included to make an accurate assessment.

Single second-hand phone offsets about one-third of a new phone's production

Amatuni reached a similar conclusion when studying second-hand phone usage in the United States. Sellers of used electronics, such as Marktplaats (Adevinta), often claim that buying a second-hand item eliminates the need to produce a new one. Amatuni found that, in reality, a second-hand phone only offsets about one-third of a new phone's production.

'People would use their phones for longer if they couldn't sell their old devices.'

Again, rebound effects are the cause. 'The study reveals that if people couldn't sell their old devices, they would use their phones for longer', the researcher explains. In other words, reuse both extends the lifetime of a device - by giving it a new owner - but also shortens it, as people tend to sell their newly bought devices sooner. Amatuni compared these two observations against one another to model the actual displacement caused by reuse.

Our intentions are what's most important

The researcher, who describes himself as environmentally conscious from a young age, doesn't want people to conclude that taking small steps toward sustainability is pointless. 'Our intentions are still what's most important', he says, 'but at the same time, people need to realise there are no easy fixes.'

He recommends prioritising overall consumption reduction rather than continuing current habits while trying to make them more efficient. Amatuni uses the textile industry as an example. In his home country of Canada, textile waste amounts to the weight of 44 t-shirts per person each year. 'There is unlikely any sustainable business model of organic cotton that will substantially reduce that amount, if we don't simply buy fewer t-shirts and keep them as long as possible', he concludes.