The Production of Everyday Life in Eco-Conscious Households : Compromise, Conflict, Complicity

Drawing on qualitative fieldwork, this book sheds much-needed light on how sustainability-oriented households balance priorities and get things done in day-to-day life, offering crucial insights about eco-conscious living at an individual level. Based on qualitative interviews with sustainability-oriented parents of young children, this book describes what happens when people make interventions into mundane and easy-to-overlook aspects of everyday life to bring the way they get things done into alignment with their environmental values. Because the ability to make changes is constrained by their culture and capitalist society, there are negative consequences and trade-offs involved in these household-level sustainability practices. The households described in this book shed light on the full extent of the trade-offs involved in promoting sustainability at the household level as a solution to environmental problems Front Cover The Production pf Everyday Life in Eco-conscious Households: Compromise, Conflict, Complicity Copyright information Dedication Table of contents Acknowledgments 1 Introduction: “This Can’t Be All Up to Me” On the grid Background Household production and sustainability Sixteen years in Portlandia Methodological overview Intimacy, friendship, and feminist research A note on deception Recruiting my informants The interviews Outline of the book Conclusion References 2 Eco-Conscious Household Production and Capitalist Society Other possible theoretical frameworks The theoretical framework for this book The reproduction of capitalist society Household production and its role in social reproduction Wants, needs, and the “basket of goods” A caveat Conclusion References 3 Priorities in Eco-Conscious Households Introducing my informants Families of origin Origins of sustainability values and practices Current living arrangements and family structures Household sustainability priorities Personal health Nature Waste Technology Community Conclusion References 4 Resources and Constraints in Eco-Conscious Households Household resources Resources from waged work Resources from extended family and friends Resources from government and nonprofits Resources from research Resources from gleaning, borrowed and free items, and theft Resources from unwaged work Household constraints Time constraints Budget constraints Social and cultural constraints Information constraints Conclusion References 5 Managing Household Waste Trash and “packaging” Recycling Composting Diapers Toilet waste References 6 Cleanliness and Comfort Cleanliness Showering Laundry Household cleaning Comfort Comfort when it’s cold outside Temperatures Equipment Actions Comfort when it’s warm outside Temperatures Equipment Actions Conclusion References 7 Doing Their Own Research Learning skills Types of research Health research Research about the environmental impact of choices Motivations for research Research consequences Conclusion References 8 Conflict Conflicts between adult household members Conflicts between adults and their own parents Conflicts between adults and children Conflicts between children and the outside world Internal conflicts and guilt Conclusion 9 “How Do We Live with Ourselves?” Overview Budgeting Carbon budgeting and compromise Giving things up for sanity Anti-natalist informants Conclusion References 10 Conclusion: “We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us” Producing sustainability in households Suggestions for future research Practices in “conventional” households Practices in thrift-minded households Practices in high-demand households Sustainability work and gender The futility of household-scale sustainability practices Moving forward: pragmatic pathways Moving forward: utopian visions References Notes Index "Based on qualitative interviews with sustainability-oriented parents of young children, this book describes what happens when people make interventions into mundane and easy-to-overlook aspects of everyday life to bring the way they get things done into alignment with their environmental values. Because the ability to make changes is constrained by their culture and capitalist society, there are negative consequences and trade-offs involved in these household-level sustainability practices. The households described in this book shed light on the full extent of the trade-offs involved in promoting sustainability at the household level as a solution to environmental problems." -- Amazon