Study 3 - Household low-waste innovation

Chief Investigators Professor Jo Lindsay and Professor Rob Raven

Objective:

Understand the capacity for low waste innovation in households and the barriers and incentives for low waste ways of living.

Updates:
  • Watch Here the webinar recording from Monash Social Sciences week on reflections from the study by the household innovators and research team. To access, use passcode: &3yjnLG6
  • First Project Update available for download.
  • Presented initial findings to the virtual International Sustainability Transitions (IST) conference organised by the Sustainability Transitions Research Network (STRN) in October 2021.
  • Completed third workshop with participants where they engaged with waste-focused policymakers in Melbourne.
  • Completed second workshop with participants where they shared experiences of engaging in low waste experiments.
  • Collected weekly reflections about the experiments as they unfolded in participants’ households.
  • Completed first workshop with participants where they each designed a 6-week low waste experiment to trial at home.
  • Completed interviews with participants to find out about their views on waste and changes in waste systems inside and beyond the household, and how they manage waste at home.
Initial findings:
  • Households can innovate and make change.
  • Change is not easy, but can be rewarding.
  • Taking small steps was a more successful strategy for achieving change than attempting rapid large changes in ways of doing things at home.
  • Changing systems outside the household would make low-waste living easier to achieve. Many people tried to reduce purchases of packaging, especially on food, and achieving this was very difficult.
  • Engaging in an experiment often involved an intense period of learning or research.
  • Social relations can be a strong source of positive feedback and support for low waste activities.
  • Some changes initiated as part of the experiment will be continued by households after the trial period.

A scene from Workshop 3

Workshop 3 brought together householders and policymakers to discuss
experiences and futures of low-waste living in Australia.

For more information about this project contact Ruth Lane.