Understanding Household Consumption Practices and their Motivations: Opportunities to Foster Sustainability Practices

Understanding household practices, beliefs, relationships among the members, and their preferences are often overlooked in the design of home-based interventions aiming to reduce consumption. We conducted a survey in the United Kingdom (22 responses) and a follow-up interview with 13 households to inform the design of interventions for reducing household consumption by: 1) understanding household consumption practices, and 2) identifying the concerns and challenges for household engagement with sustainability practices. Our findings highlight how the perspectives, understanding, and motives for consumption reduction actively shape household practices and their attempts to curtail consumption. Existing non-negotiable practices led to additional household consumption and we found different strategies households use to reach a shared-decision on food and energy use. Based on our findings, we provide opportunities for motivating and fostering engagement with sustainable practices at home.