I suspect, however, that high energy costs will once again reinforce the demand for efficiency. Houses came top of the league as energy consuming products, followed by cars. In both, the availability of new products and advice has only to be availed of to save costs. Energy saved is cheaper than energy used. Domestic appliances are also important, because of their dependence on that specialised form of energy requiring a primary energy input three times that consumed by the appliance - electricity.
Some products demand further materials consumption.
Vehicles need tyres, hydraulic fluids and a bewildering range of spare parts and accessories. There are so many examples that it is difficult to generalise on green principles. Design efficiency, to minimise these needs on a day to day basis, is the only way to reduce impact. In the late 1960s the most discussed environmental problem was the eutrophication of fresh waters by phosphate additives to domestic washing powders. The weekly wash could contribute to the sewer some 20-30 times the phosphate load of the family's sewage.