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Inadvertent environmentalism and the action–value opportunity: reflections from studies at both ends of the generational spectrum

Hitchings, Russell
; 
Collins, Rebecca
; 
Day, Rosie
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Affiliation
University College London; University of Chester; University of Birmingham
EPub Date
Publication Date
2013-11-22
Submitted Date
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Geography and International Development
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InadvertentsRevised FINAL.pdf
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Abstract
A recent turn towards a more contextually sensitive apprehension of the challenge of making everyday life less resource hungry has been partly underwritten by widespread evidence that the environmental values people commonly profess to hold do not often translate into correspondingly low impact actions. Yet sometimes the contexts of everyday life can also conspire to make people limit their consumption without ever explicitly connecting this to the environmental agenda. This paper considers this phenomenon with reference to UK studies from both ends of the generational spectrum. The first questioned how older people keep warm at home during winter and the second examined how young people get rid of no longer wanted possessions. Both found that, though the respondents involved were acting in certain ways that may be deemed comparatively low impact, they were hitherto relatively indifferent to the idea of characterising these actions as such. We outline three ways in which sustainability advocates might respond to the existence of such “inadvertent environmentalists” and consider how they might inspire studies that generate fresh intervention ideas instead of lingering on the dispiriting recognition that people do not often feel able to act for the environment.
Citation
Hitchings, R., Collins, R., & Day, R. (2015). Inadvertent environmentalism and the action–value opportunity: reflections from studies at both ends of the generational spectrum. Local Environment, 20(3), 369-385. https://doi.org/10.1080/13549839.2013.852524
Publisher
Taylor & Francis
Journal
Local Environment
Research Unit
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10034/604611
DOI
10.1080/13549839.2013.852524
PubMed ID
PubMed Central ID
Type
Article
Language
en
Description
This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Local Environment on 22/11/2013, available online: doi: 10.1080/13549839.2013.852524
Series/Report no.
ISSN
1354-9839
EISSN
1469-6711
ISBN
ISMN
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Sponsors
Nuffield Foundation/Economic and Social Research Council
Additional Links
http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13549839.2013.852524