Avoiding plastics at the household level: Household agency as a mechanism in transitions

IF 5.7 2区经济学 Q1 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES

Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions Pub Date : 2025-03-08 DOI:10.1016/j.eist.2025.100983

David O. Reynolds

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article provides a perspective on concrete sustainability actions to avoid plastic at the household level in Australia to examine the contributions and involvement of household-level agency and social innovation in socio-technical systems transitions. Asking ‘what can household-level actions for sustainability reveal about the position of household agency in sustainability transitions?’ investigates links between household and systems change. Plastic avoidance involves four types of action: mental, material, social and spatial, which capture how householders' agency creatively adapt and diffuse social innovations, revealing a powerful mechanism in sustainability transitions driven by effort rather than novel technologies. In addition, the entanglement of material actions with creativity and mental, spatial and social actions highlight dynamics and potential barriers to innovation adoption as part of transition pathways. The case and the four categories of action presented offer a starting point to identify and minimise such barriers in designing pathways for change and implementing transitions.

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来源期刊

Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions Energy-Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment

CiteScore

13.60

自引率

19.40%

发文量

审稿时长

56 days

期刊介绍： Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions serves as a platform for reporting studies on innovations and socio-economic transitions aimed at fostering an environmentally sustainable economy, thereby addressing structural resource scarcity and environmental challenges, particularly those associated with fossil energy use and climate change. The journal focuses on various forms of innovation, including technological, organizational, economic, institutional, and political, as well as economy-wide and sectoral changes in areas such as energy, transport, agriculture, and water management. It endeavors to tackle complex questions concerning social, economic, behavioral-psychological, and political barriers and opportunities, along with their intricate interactions. With a multidisciplinary approach and methodological openness, the journal welcomes contributions from a wide array of disciplines within the social, environmental, and innovation sciences.