But their desire to consume knows no upper bounds. New needs are created that never existed before. Globalisation is making products cheaper than ever. TVs are no longer uncommon even in African shanty towns. The number of households is increasing as people live longer and family breakdown becomes more common.
Smaller households consume considerably more per person than large.
Moreover, consumption is politically very difficult to restrain. In view of this much of the burden of reducing our environmental impact will rest on technology. Technology will have to deliver major shifts in improving resource productivity, and in reducing the amount of waste we create. All our institutions and forms of management which affect technology will need to be geared to this end. In some areas the record has been good and looks likely to remain so.