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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在家庭层面避免塑料：家庭代理作为过渡中的一种机制

本文提供了一个具体的可持续发展行动的视角，以避免塑料在澳大利亚的家庭层面，以检查家庭层面的机构和社会创新在社会技术系统转型中的贡献和参与。问“家庭层面的可持续发展行动能揭示家庭机构在可持续发展转型中的地位吗？”调查了家庭和系统变化之间的联系。塑料避免涉及四种类型的行动：精神、物质、社会和空间，它们捕捉到家庭机构如何创造性地适应和传播社会创新，揭示了由努力而不是新技术驱动的可持续性过渡的强大机制。此外，物质行为与创造力和精神、空间和社会行为的纠缠突出了作为过渡途径一部分的创新采用的动态和潜在障碍。本案例和所提出的四类行动提供了一个起点，可以在设计变革途径和实施转型时识别并最大限度地减少这些障碍。

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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.