1 / 17

Researching Consumption and Sustainability

Researching Consumption and Sustainability. Convenor: Dr Ben Anderson - Department of Sociology, University of Essex With: Dr Adrian Evans - Department of Sociology, University of Essex Dr Alison Browne - Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster

kineta
Download Presentation

Researching Consumption and Sustainability

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Researching Consumption and Sustainability Convenor: Dr Ben Anderson - Department of Sociology, University of Essex With: Dr Adrian Evans - Department of Sociology, University of Essex Dr Alison Browne - Lancaster Environment Centre, University of Lancaster Dr Sue Venn & Dr Kate Burningham - Department of Sociology, University of Surrey Dr Murray Goulden - Horizon Research Institute, University of Nottingham Miss Joanne Parker - Department of Geography, University of Lougborough

  2. Consumption by proxy: Analysing Traces of Water Dr Ben Anderson - Department of Sociology, University of Essex Dr Alison Browne - Lancaster Environment Centre Dr Will Medd - Lancaster Environment Centre ESRC Sustainable Practices Research Group 3 July 2012

  3. Why: Water is (going to be) a problem • Supply problems: • Locally/regionally scarce • Climate change effects? • Energy problems: • ‘Clean’ water costs • ‘Clean’ is a moving target • Demand problems: • 50% used by households • Drivers not well understood • Climate change effects? • Demographic problems • Increasing single person households • With no ‘behaviour’ change and no flow controls 2050 Source: DEFRA, 2011

  4. Regulation/ Market/ Supply Policy levers Conceptual Framework ‘habits’ ‘bodily and mental routines’ ‘permanent dispositions’ Water consumption = f(price + demographics + practices + attitudes) + error ?! ? Education Information Exhortation

  5. Entities Performance Practices? a temporally unfolding and spatially dispersed nexus of doings and sayings Schatzki, 1996 ‘habits’, ‘bodily and mental routines’ ‘permanent dispositions’ Reckwitz, 2002; Why people don’t do what they ‘should’ - Jim Skea, 2011 habituation, routine, practical consciousness, tacit knowledge, tradition Performance often neither fully conscious nor reflective Warde, 2005

  6. Practice Traces “The recurrent enactment of specific practices leaves all sorts of “marks” – diet shows up in statistics on obesity; heating and cooling practices have effect on energy demand, and habits of laundry matter for water consumption. Identifying relevant “proxies” represents one way to go.” SPRG Discussion Paper, 2012 Image: Eric Shipton, 1951

  7. What is currently unclear… Water Consumption Demographics Practices Attitudes Price Error (uncertainty/things we can’t measure)

  8. What is currently unclear… Water Consumption "Value <-> Action Gap" Demographics Practices Attitudes Price Error (uncertainty/things we can’t measure)

  9. Proxy (Expenditure & Food Survey 2002-2009) £ water/week Demographics Fruit & Veg Shampoo,soap detergents £/week Garden products Tea, coffee, juices Price Attitudes Household water demand - proxies and traces Ideal water (l/day) Demographics Practices Price Attitudes

  10. c11521t margarine and other vegetable fats c11711t leaf and stem vegetables (fresh or chilled) c11731t vegetables grown for their fruit (fresh, chilled or frozen) c11751t dried vegetables c11761t other preserved or processed vegetables c11781t other tubers and products of tuber vegetables c12241t vegetable juices ‘Veg’ Why consumption survey data? • Large n (c 6,000) & high quality (ONS) • Free for non-commercial use! • Household & individual expenditures • Finely coded • May reveal differing practices

  11. Modelling approach • Expenditure & Food Survey 2002-2009 • 2005 prices • Selection: • Have water meter (England) • Pay water & sewerage combined

  12. Modelling approach • Model • Metered water expenditure - demand proxy • Demographics (household) • Ownership of dishwasher/washing machine • Consumption expenditures - practice traces • Plus controls: • Income, number of earners, region, • Tenure, number rooms, number of cars, accommodation type Proxy (EFS 2002-2009) £ water/week Demographics Fruit & Veg Shampoo,soap detergents £/week Garden products Tea, coffee, juices Price Attitudes

  13. Overall model performance • Contributions to model

  14. Demographic effects (Traces of Practices?)

  15. Water traces: ‘Practices’ effects Traces of Practices?

  16. Conclusions • The practice proxies approach offers value • But confounding problems? • Expenditures as proxies? • Garden/soil type? • Period of water use? • Included sewerage costs? • Where next? • Practices based survey • Linked to metered consumption data

  17. Thank you! • ESRC Sustainable Practices Research Group • www.sprg.ac.uk/projects-fellowships/patterns-of-water Contact: • Ben Anderson (benander@essex.ac.uk)

More Related