Abstract
Many commentators analyse green consumption as if it were an expression of individual environmental commitment. Such approaches suppose that the adoption of more sustainable ways of life depends upon the diffusion of "green" beliefs and actions through society. In this article, the author explores the idea that patterns of resource consumption (especially of energy and water) reflect what are generally inconspicuous routines and habits. Are such conventions evolving or standardising in ways that are increasingly resource intensive? In addressing this question with reference to three domains of daily life: comfort, cleanliness, and convenience, four simple models of change are outlined, two of which imply an inexorable escalation of resource consumption, two of which do not. The purpose of this illustrative exercise is to demonstrate the importance of understanding the systemic redefinition of "normal practice." Rather than taking individual behaviour to be the central unit of analysis, the case is made for an approach that concentrates on the construction and transformation of collective convention. This theoretical reorientation opens the way for programmes of research and policy informed by an appreciation of the technological and the commercial as well as the symbolic and cultural dimensions of more and less resource-intensive ways of life.
Similar content being viewed by others
REFERENCES
Albaum, M. (1997). Das Kundenbuch. Menschen und ihr Einkaufsverhalten bei Bekleidung. Frankfurt/Main: Deutscher Fachverlag.
Allen, R. (Ed.) (1990). Concise Oxford dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Biermeyer, P. (2001). Coming changes in the U.S. clothes washer market. Berkeley, CA: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. Unpublished paper.
Bijker, W. (1997). Of bicycles, bakelites and bulbs. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Bode, M. (2000). Clothing care function: Germany, SusHouse Project final report. Delft: Delft University of Technology, Faculty of Technology Policy and Management.
Bourdieu, P. (1984). Distinction: A social critique of judgement and taste. London: Routledge.
Brager, G., & de Dear, R. (2000). A standard for natural ventilation. ASHRAE Journal, October, pp. 21-27.
Consumers Union (1950). Washing machines. Consumer Reports, June, pp. 258-263.
Cooper, G. (1998). Air conditioning America: Engineers and the controlled environment, 1900–1960. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Cowan, R. S. (1983). More work for mother: The ironies of household technology from the open hearth to the microwave. New York: Basic Books.
Crowley, J. (2001). The invention of comfort. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
DEFRA (1999). Tumble dryers in the UK. Reference Number: wttd4031; Issue Date: 11 November, 1999. Available at: http://www.mtprog.com/wet/tumble/index.html (01.05.02).
DEFRA (2000). Washing machines in the United Kingdom: A sector review paper on projected energy consumption for the Department of the Environment, Transport and the Regions. WTWM4031, October 2000. Available at: http://www.mtprog. com/wet/wash_mach/wtwmdown4031.pdf (14.4.02).
Douglas, M. (1984). Purity and danger: An analysis of the concepts of pollution and taboo. London: Routledge.
Environment Agency (2001). Environment information. Available at: http://www. environment-agency.tv/nwdmc/being_water_wise_home/index.htm (14.04.02).
Fanger, O. (1970). Thermal comfort-Analysis and applications in environmental engineering. Copenhagen: Danish Technical Press.
Fine, B., & Leopold, E. (1993). The world of consumption. London: Routledge.
Fischer, C. (1992). America calling: A social history of the telephone. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Forty, A. (1986). Objects of desire: Design and society since 1750. London: Thames and Hudson.
Gershuny, J., & Sullivan, O. (1998). The sociological uses of time-use diary analysis. European Sociological Review, 14, 69-85.
Handley, S. (1999). Nylon: The manmade fashion revolution. London: Bloomsbury.
Hochschild, A. (1997). The time bind: When work becomes home and home becomes work. New York: Metropolitan Books.
Hughes, T. P. (1983). Networks of power: Electrification in Western society, 1880–1930. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.
Humphreys, M. (1995). Thermal comfort temperatures and the habits of Hobbits. In: F. Nicol, M. Humphreys, O. Sykes, & S. Roaf (Eds), Standards for thermal comfort, pp. 3-14. London: E & F N Spon.
Kaufmann, J. C. (1998). Dirty linen: Couples and their laundry. London: Middlesex University Press.
Leete, L., & Schor, J. (1994). Assessing the time-squeeze hypothesis: Hours worked in the United States 1969–1989. Industrial Relations, 33, 25-43.
Lupton, E., & Miller, J. (1992). The bathroom, the kitchen and the aesthetics of waste: A process of elimination. New York: Kiosk.
Parr, J. (1999). Domestic goods: The material, the moral, and the economic in the postwar years. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Plumbing and Mechanical (1994). The stand-up bath. Available at: http://www. theplumber.com/standup.html (12.04.02).
Rip, A., & Groen, A. (2001). Many visible hands. In: R. Coombs, K. Green, V. Walsh, & A. Richards (Eds.), Technology and the market: Demands, users and innovation, pp. 12-37. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.
Rip, A., & Kemp, R. (1998). Technological change. In: S. Rayner & E. Malone (Eds.), Human choice and climate change: Resources and technology, Volume 2, pp. 327-392. Columbus, OH: Battelle Press.
Robinson, J., & Godbey, G. (1997). Time for life: The surprising ways that Americans use their time. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
Sams, P. (2001). Clothes care-Sending the right signals. Paper given at the International Appliance Technical Conference, Columbus, Ohio, March 27.
Schor, J. (1992). The overworked American: The unexpected decline of leisure. New York: Basic Books.
Shove, E. (2003). Comfort, cleanliness and convenience: The social organization of normality. Oxford: Berg.
Schot, J., Hoogma, R., & Elzen, B. (1994). Strategies for shifting technological systems: The case of the automobile system. Futures, 26, 1060-1076.
Southerton, D. (2001). Squeezing time: Allocating practices, co-ordinating networks and scheduling society. Time & Society, 12, 5-25.
Southerton, D., Shove, E., & Warde, A. (2001). Harried and hurried: Time shortage and co-ordination of everyday life. Manchester: The University of Manchester and UMIST. CRIC Discussion Paper No. 47.
Spaargaren, G. (1997). The ecological modernisation of production and consumption: Essays in environmental sociology. Wageningen, The Netherlands: Landbouw Universitiet Wageningen.
Thompson, C. (1996). Caring consumers: Gendered consumption meanings and the juggling lifestyle. Journal of Consumer Research, 22, 388-407.
Vigarello, G. (1998). Concepts of cleanliness: Changing attitudes in France since the Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Warde, A. (1999). Convenient food: Space and timing. British Food Journal, 101, 518-527.
Warde, A., Shove, E., & Southerton, D. (1998). Convenience, schedules and sustainability. Paper given at the European Science Foundation Workshop on Consumption, Everyday Life and Sustainability, Lancaster University, 27–29 March. Available at http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/sociology/esf/convenience.htm.
Yorkshire Water (2001). Latest news. Ref: NR105/2001. Date 18.05.01. http://www.yorkshirewater.com/search/results.htm?news/top.htm&http://www.yorkshirewater.com/news/nr105_01.htm (accessed on 01.05.02).
Zerubavel, E. (1979). Patterns of time in hospital life. Chicago: Chicago University Press.
Zerubavel, E. (1985). The seven day circle. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Shove, E. Converging Conventions of Comfort, Cleanliness and Convenience. Journal of Consumer Policy 26, 395–418 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026362829781
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1026362829781