The dematerialization of a product literally means less, or better yet, no material is used to deliver the same level of functionality to the user. Sharing, borrowing and the organization of group services that facilitate and cater for communities needs could alleviate the requirement of
ownership of many products.
In his book ''In The Bubble: Designing In A Complex World'', John Thakara states that "the average consumer power tool is used for ten minutes in its entire life—but it takes hundreds of times its own weight to
manufacture such an object". A
product service system
Product-service systems (PSS) are business models that provide for cohesive delivery of products and services. PSS models are emerging as a means to enable collaborative consumption of both products and services, with the aim of pro-environmental ...
with shared tools could simply offer access to them when needed.
This shift from a reliance on
products
Product may refer to:
Business
* Product (business), an item that serves as a solution to a specific consumer problem.
* Product (project management), a deliverable or set of deliverables that contribute to a business solution
Mathematics
* Produ ...
to
services
Service may refer to:
Activities
* Administrative service, a required part of the workload of university faculty
* Civil service, the body of employees of a government
* Community service, volunteer service for the benefit of a community or a p ...
is the process of dematerialization. Digital music distribution systems, car clubs, bike hire schemes and laundry services all can be examples of dematerialization.
References
External links
Dematerializationpattern from the Liberating Voices
pattern language
A pattern language is an organized and coherent set of ''patterns'', each of which describes a problem and the core of a solution that can be used in many ways within a specific field of expertise. The term was coined by architect Christopher Alexa ...
discusses problems and solutions related to dematerialization
Technological change
Industrial ecology
Waste minimisation
Environmental social science concepts
{{Sci-stub