Time in the sustainable consumption context

Abstract

This is an attempt to figure out how Time is defined and used in the sustainable consumption context. Although Time is known and defined as an abstract concept in many branches of science, in practice and in real life it performs beyond its limited definitions. In the sustainable consumption documents, time generally is defined as a limited resource such as money and energy, to be allocated to activities and to be understood by the practices it is allocated to. Time concept is assessed over selected materials categorizing it to seven defined categories including Time use, Use of time, Time related rebound effect, Time related valueaction gap, Time pressure, Time related well-being and Social engagement Time. Although the distinguished categories are discussed in detail within articles, some essential assumptions such as interchangeability or not interchangeability of money and time is considered marginal while these assumptions potentially can cause various results in practice. Clarifying practical knowledge of people about Time concept and applying that in sustainable consumption strategies may lead to more effective results and policies. Qualitative content analysis is used as the method for assessing the definition and use of Time in the selected published articles.