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 Ownership is the state or fact of legal possession and control over property, which may be any asset, tangible or intangible. Ownership can involve multiple rights, collectively referred to as title, which may be separated and held by different ...

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 Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ra ...

such an object". A product service system with shared tools could simply offer access to them when needed. This shift from a reliance on products to services is the process of dematerialization. Digital music distribution systems, car clubs, bike hire schemes and laundry services all can be examples of dematerialization.

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Dematerialization
pattern 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 Alex ...

discusses problems and solutions related to dematerialization Technological change Industrial ecology Waste minimisation Environmental social science concepts {{Sci-stub