The question Chris Gibson and his colleagues answer in this book is
simple: 'Why is it not easy being green?' In 20 concise, focused
and accessible chapters from birthing to dying, from toilets to
Christmas - they unveil the ambiguities, instabilities and
paradoxes of affluent household living in the 21st century. In so
doing, they temper the easy rhetoric of sustainable lifestyles with
some authentic realities drawn from the affluent world. Earth
system science is showing us the deep complexity of our material
planet. This book brilliantly reflects back to us the complex
materiality of our cultural lives.' - Mike Hulme, University of
East Anglia, UKContrary to the common rhetoric that being green is
'easy', household sustainability is rife with contradiction and
uncertainty. Households attempting to respond to the challenge to
become more sustainable in everyday life face dilemmas on a daily
basis when trying to make sustainable decisions. Various aspects of
life such as cars, computers, food, phones and even birth and
death, may all provoke uncertainty regarding the most sustainable
course of action. Drawing on international scientific and cultural
research, as well as innovative ethnographies, this timely book
probes these wide-ranging sustainability dilemmas, assessing the
avenues open to households trying to improve their sustainability.
The authors engage critically, and constructively, with the
proposition that households are a key scale of action on climate
change. They confront dilemmas of practice and circumstance, and
cultural norms of lifestyle and consumerism that are linked to
troublesome environmental problems - and question whether they can
be easily unsettled. The work also illuminates the informal and
often unheralded work by households - frequently the poorest - in
reducing their environmental burden. This important book is
critical to understanding both the barriers to household
sustainability and the 'unsung' sustainability work carried out by
householders. Containing a unique combination of science and
cultural research, this fascinating book will appeal to researchers
and students of environmental science, environmental studies,
sustainability studies, climate change adaptation, geography,
sociology, cultural studies, science and technology studies, as
well as energy studies and housing research. Policy-makers in
various levels of government working through sustainability
problems, environmental educators, social planners and
sustainability officers working for governments, will also find
much to interest them in this unique book. Contents: Introduction
1. Having a Baby 2. Spaghetti Bolognese 3. Clothes 4. Water 5.
Warmth 6. Toilets 7. Laundry 8. Furniture 9. Plastic Bags 10.
Driving Cars 11. Flying 12. The Refrigerator 13. Screens 14. Mobile
Phones 15. Solar Hot Water 16. The Garden 17. Christmas 18.
Retirement 19. Death 20. Conclusion References Index
General
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