From an Ecological Behaviour Record Notebook to Footprint and Discharge Calculators : Effects of Soft measures on Household and Industry Economics

Ecological footprint (EF) calculators, carbon footprint (CF) calculators and water footprint (WF) calculators have been developed by many organisations in the world in these years. First carbon dioxide (CO2) emission calculator was developed in 1991 to the author’s knowledge. The basic concept of ecological behaviour record notebook and CO2 emission calculators have been developed in the dawn of such tools in the late 20th century. Pollutant discharge calculators have been developed to estimate the effects of soft measures in households to reduce pollutant discharge and to improve ambient water quality. For CF calculators, CO2 emission and household expenditures are directly related. On the contrary, for pollutant discharge calculator, household expenditures are not directly related to pollutant discharge reduction amounts. In this paper, the short history of ecological behaviour record notebook and EF calculators from the 1980s is reviewed and effects of soft measures on household and industry economics are estimated. The effects on the related industries are investigated using input-output table analysis. The analysis result showed such effects of soft measures on final consumption that chemical fibres industry will be positively affected and detergents industry will be largely affected