Jevons paradox

Jevons paradox is an idea that was named after an economist named William Stanley Jevons. It explains how people sometimes use more of a resource when they find a better way to use it.

For example, imagine that you have a lamp that uses oil to give you light. You find a way to make the lamp use less oil but still give off the same amount of light. You might think that now that you're using less oil, you will be saving more. But Jevons paradox states that you will actually use MORE oil. This is because now that you can use less oil to get the same amount of light, you will use the lamp more often.

So, even though you've found a way to use a resource more efficiently, you still end up using more of it in the end.