Everyday Household Practice in Alternative Residential Dwellings: The Non-Environmental Motivations for Environmental Behavior

Abstract

There are many forms of residential dwelling that minimize the negative environmental consequences of life in a home. Case studies on adoption of alternative dwelling technologies that are often understood as the result of environmentally motivated behavior suggest, however, that the choice to adopt less environmentally degrading technologies and practices in the home is not necessarily motivated by environmental concerns. This chapter examines homeowners who have adopted residential solar electric technology, people living in o-grid homes called Earthships, and people living in two intentional communities in the US. These case studies demonstrate how household practices can be reorganized through alternative technological systems to aect understandings of private property, the role of centralized utilities in more sustainable societies, the organization of work and home life, a potential reorientation of public policy, and—above all—the reasons to pursue environmentally benecial materials, technologies, and practices in residential life.