Income impacts on household consumption's grey water footprint in China

Urbanization is accompanied by growing household consumption and changing consumption patterns, with both having impacts on the life-cycle water pollution generated. This study uses the indicator of greywater footprint (GWF) within an Input-Output framework to examine the decadal change from 2002 to 2017 of the life-cycle water pollution change for household consumption in China, where rapid urbanization has particularly posed looming environmental challenges. Against the background of enlarging inequality, the results also shed light on the impacts of households within different income groups. From 2002 to 2017, GWF required by urban household consumption has increased significantly from1586 to 2195 km(3) while that for rural households have decreased slightly from 1139 to 964 km(3) during the same period. Total Nitrogen required the largest GWF throughout the whole period and throughout all different income groups. Food consumption dominated the GWF for household consumption. However, the share of GWF for food consumption decreases with income increases, from 83% for extremely poor rural households to 71% for very rich urban households in 2012. Urbanites on average require higher GWF for their consumption than their rural counterparts. An average person from the highest income rural households required 2033 m(3) GWF for household consumption, which is higher than a person from a very poor urban household (1685 m(3)) but lower than that of a person from poor urban household (2149 m(3)). While household consumption volume increase has been the primary driver for GWF increase, pollution intensity reduction has offset such impacts. Household consumption pattern change's impacts differ by household income and by pollutant considered. (C) 2020 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

Urbanization in China has led to significant changes in household consumption patterns, resulting in a notable increase in greywater footprint for urban households while a slight decrease for rural households. The study also highlights the significant impact of total Nitrogen on GWF and how food consumption dominates GWF for household consumption. Meanwhile, the study shows that urban households on average require higher GWF for consumption compared to rural households, with variations depending on income levels.