Researchers at the Essex Sustainability Institute, in collaboration with colleagues at the University of Exeter Medical School and the NHS Sustainable Development Unit have recently published a paper exploring the externalities associated with high levels of material consumption. In the UK, poor diets, physical inactivity, loneliness and other artefacts of modern lifestyles cost an estimated £180 billion each year. The researchers conclude that there is a clear need to redefine what we think of as prosperity.

The paper is available open-access online here.