Feminised concern or feminist care? Reclaiming gender normativities in zero waste living

Abstract

Growing awareness of environmental issues and their relation to consumption patterns has given rise to calls for sustainable consumption across the globe. In this article, we focus on the zero waste lifestyle movement, which targets high-consumption households in the Global North as a site of change for phasing out waste in global supply chains. Our article is concerned with asking how gender and household sustainability are mutually constituted in the zero waste lifestyle movement. We establish an analytical tension between understanding zero waste living as a further intensification of feminised responsibility for people and the planet and as offering potential for transformational change – as feminised concern or feminist care. Through qualitative content analysis of the 10 most influential zero waste blogs globally, we show how the five zero waste rules of conduct – refuse, reduce, reuse, recycle, and rot – guide consumers towards everyday and situated engagements with waste. Organised by three cross-cutting themes – communing with nature, organising time, and spending money – we present the normativities these rules call into being for reconfiguring domestic activities such as cooking, cleaning, and grocery shopping. In the discussion, we draw out the implications of zero waste living’s emerging, contradictory gender normativities, while recalling the political economy in which it is situated, namely a neoliberal, postfeminist landscape. We identify a continued feminisation of domestic responsibilities that is uncontested in zero waste living but also explore the progressive potential of waste-free living to bring collective, naturecultural worlds into being as part of domestic environmental labour.

Does the purchase intention of green consumers align with their zero-waste buying behaviour? An empirical study on a proactive approach towards embracing waste-free consumption

“…Thirdly, there is still a lack of empirical evidence, as zero waste in the cosmetic industry is in the nascent stage. Lastly, previous studies focus on women consumers [ 40 , 52 , [53] , [54] , and not on other genders. Hence, this research uses a gender-neutral concept.…”

Beyond the bin: overcoming the intention–behavior gap in zero-waste living

“…Moreover, regulatory measures and extensive media coverage have acted as catalysts for this movement, indicating a promising potential for ZWL to become a commonplace way of life (Săplăcan and Márton, 2019). Interestingly, there exists a notable link between gender dynamics and ZWL, with gender roles both intensifying and evolving within ZWL communities (Wilde and Parry, 2022). Social media, being a significant influencer of consumer behavior, plays a pivotal role in propagating ZWL practices (Pratiwi et al ., 2021).…”

“…In this framework, refusing is the most desirable action, while recycling is the least desirable (Khawar Balwan et al ., 2022). More broadly, this pro-environmental lifestyle requires a conscious effort to adopt sustainable practices that minimize waste, such as choosing products with minimal packaging, repairing and repurposing items, composting food waste and using reusable bags, bottles and containers instead of disposable ones (Wilde and Parry, 2022).…”