The practice of household waste minimisation

ABSTRACT

This article presents a study of Swedish waste minimisation bloggers, often called zero waste bloggers. Through the lens of practice theory, the study shows that household waste is an unintended consequence of maintaining shared practices. The studied bloggers choose to maintain shared practices such as dressing well and buying takeaway lunch, but still manage to reduce their household waste. Waste reduction is acted out by altering some of the activities of which practices are made up by, such as applying the circular wardrobe and bringing their own food container. This becomes possible as the households reflect on their own consumption practices and thereby perceive opportunities to reduce their waste. Apart from lacking opportunities, waste minimisation is challenged by firmly established norms, such as shopping and the perception that recycling is good enough. Activities may also be challenged by other actors who inevitably get involved as activities change. This study suggests that if waste prevention is to become a shared practice more opportunities for waste prevention need to be normalised.

KEYWORDS:

• Waste prevention
• practice theory
• zero waste
• five Rs
• normalised opportunities

Introduction

This article presents a study of some forerunners of the waste minimisation lifestyle, also known as zero waste. It examines blogs on zero waste and waste minimisation from an everyday perspective. By applying practice theory, the aim of the study is to understand how household waste minimisation happens and to expose the possibilities and the limitations of what it is possible to achieve within household waste prevention. A second aim is to understand how these activities may spread beyond the studied forerunners and become a wider shared practice.

The study is placed within a Swedish setting. The purpose of this is to contribute to the understanding of why Sweden, a country which is well developed within ecological modernisation (Vail 2014) and which has well-developed waste management and recycling programs (Corvellec et al. 2018) and with consumers that are concerned about sustainability (Isenhour 2010), does not manage to reduce its amounts of waste. Household waste in Sweden has increased annually from 1975 to 2017 in both total quantities, from 2.6 million tons to 4.8 million tons, as well as per capita, increasing from 317 kg/capita to 473 kg/capita (Avfall Sverige 2019). Earlier research claim this may be due to lock-in problems, such as the Swedish waste management’s primary objective is to handle and obscure waste (Svingstedt and Corvellec 2018).

The principles behind zero waste living are, by the followers of the zero waste-movement, formulated as the five Rs: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Rot – in that order. Refuse what you do not need. Reduce what you do need. Reuse by using reusables. Recycle what you cannot refuse, reduce, or reuse. Rot (compost) the rest. The goal is to send no waste to landfill or incineration (e.g. Johnson 2019; Kellogg 2020). The movement is growing rapidly. In May 2017 there were 376,669 posts under the #zerowaste hashtag on Instagram (Pedersen 2017). In November 2019 the same search resulted in 4,106,993 posts.¹

The zero-waste movement is spreading mainly through social media, such as blogs, YouTube and Instagram. When searching for Swedish zero waste and other waste minimisation blogs, very few are found, at least in comparison to those in other countries. A search on Google for zero waste blogs² presented a vast number of results in USA, Canada, UK, France and Australia, just to mention a few, while this study found only three Swedish blogs focusing specifically on zero waste.

Household waste minimisation has earlier been studied as a part of voluntary simplicity (a way of life practised by individuals whose ideology calls for minimizing consumption and maximizing reduction) (Cherrier 2009; Zamwel, Sasson-Levy, and Ben-Porat 2014), dumpstering (Barnard 2011) and freeganism (the belief in minimising the impact on the environment by consuming food that has literally been thrown away) (Edwards and Mercer 2007; Barnard 2011). These studies show that the chosen lifestyles are narrated as political activism and they all highlight the importance of finding a collective identity with other activists.

Studies on zero waste households, still very scarce, have not shown any clear narration of political activism. Mette Pedersen (2017) claims that the zero waste community is a loosely connected group of people practising ‘mundane climate activism’. Both Pedersen and a study by Emelie Oldensjö (2018) focus on how zero waste is acted out in social media, such as on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. Social media is according to these studies used for spreading awareness to others, for interaction and learning but also for creating a collective frame that inspires and motivates followers to continue to do their part with small acts in everyday life.

Though these studies of forerunners in waste minimisation are scares, they are an interesting group to study, as earlier research has identified that grassroots, rather than waste organisations, lead the way for waste prevention (Zapata, José, and Zapata 2017). As earlier studies have shown that zero wasters are ‘mundane activists’ I have chosen to study these daily activities to minimise waste through the social theory of practice.

Theory of practice

Theory of practice has been identified by a number of theorists as a useful for the study of consumption (Røpke 2009; Warde 2005). According to Andreas Reckwitz, a practice is defined as ‘a routinized type of behaviour which consists of several elements, interconnected to one other: forms of bodily activities, forms of mental activities, “things” and their use, a background knowledge in the form of understanding, know-how, states of emotion and motivational knowledge’ (Reckwitz 2002, 249).

Example of practices may be going to work, making dinner or cleaning the house. These practices are shared in the sense that most people do them repeatedly, in a constant flow. These practices are not to be seen as equal to activities, rather they are blocks of activities. Though the practices are shared, the activities that the practices are made up by can be done in several different ways (Reckwitz 2002). This means that actors do not participate in practices in identical ways. Alan Warde (2005) uses the example of driving. One driver does not act identical to another. The performance of driving depends on several factors, like past experience, technical knowledge and opportunities.

Shove, Pantzar, and Watson (2012) have developed Reckwitz’s definition of practice. In their definition, a practice is made up of the elements of meaning (ideas, aspirations and symbolic meanings), competence (shared know-how and practical intelligibility) and materials (physical stuff, objects and infrastructure). As this study focuses on waste the material aspect of society is a vital dimension. Material in this sense is however not only limited to things, but also include infrastructure and the body. Meaning in the definition by Shove et al does not have to do with personal values, but rather shared understandings, social expectations and conventions. In other words, meanings are about making sense of activities (Røpke 2009). It should be noticed that these elements do not have clear boundaries in relation to each other (Røpke 2009).

Practices emerge as the three elements link together and disappear as the links are broken. Further, different practices are interconnected to each other, in that one practice may restrict, enable or condition another practice (Shove, Pantzar, and Watson 2012). Also, practices compete with each other over limited resources such as time and space (Røpke 2009).

Within practice theory, consumption may be studied as a practice consisting of competence, material and meaning. But it is also displayed as an activity within other practices. Practices are shared, in that they are something that we all do, and are expected to do. According to Inge Røpke ‘, people are practitioners who indirectly, through the performance of various practices, draw on resources’ (Røpke 2009, 2490), such as energy and material. From this perspective consumption primarily becomes an outcome of other practices, such as cooking and showering. The prevailing assumption, according to Shove (2017) is that people use energy and material and that consumption is an outcome of individual behaviour. From this follows that to reduce demand people need to change attitude, behave differently and make better choices. This is the so-called ABC-model, if Attitudes change, so will Behaviour by Choice. By adopting practice theory, the assumption becomes another. People do not use energy or material per se, rather they perform practices that require energy and material.

In my studies, I have applied the understanding of practice theory presented above. I have also chosen to study consumption both as a practice in itself as well as an outcome of other practices. With the inspiration of Bente Halkier (2009) I believe that one perspective does not need to exclude the other.

Method and material

The method applied in this study is inspired by archival netnography. Netnography is online ethnography, that is the study of the cultural and the social on the internet (Kozinets 2015). The empirical data in the study come from Swedish social media specifically discussing households’ waste minimisation. The social media that was examined contains mainly blogs, and to a lesser extent also Instagram and Facebook posts. Blogs can offer a very rich material in the narration of practices as the bloggers often describe their daily activities, often in detail, accompanied by pictures and occasionally videos.

The study was limited to Swedish households as this would provide the opportunity to study households specifically within Swedish structures. Studies of social media were complemented by three in-depth interviews, two with bloggers and one with the project leader of the minimisation competition. This study has focussed on four blogs and a competition where households blogged about their journeys to become waste-minimisers:

A1–A3: three Swedish blogs conceptualising themselves as zero waste blogs. These blogs display households trying to make a long-term change to everyday living. Focus is on spreading knowledge and awareness to others, as well as providing practical know-how.

B1: an experiment where the blogger goes all out to produce no waste at all for 1 month. In doing this, the purpose is to challenge and display what is possible as well as what is difficult or even impossible to do to reduce waste while keeping up everyday practices. The blogger is employed by a municipal waste organisation and the blog is a part of a municipal sustainability event.

C1–C59: 59 households that took part in a waste minimisation competition initiated by a governmental institution. The households competed to reduce their waste amounts for 1 year. During this period, they blogged about their experiences. These blogs were written primarily as part of an internal discussion within the competition. This provided detailed descriptions on experiences of struggling with waste prevention in the everyday.

Studying everyday activities through blogs has limitations. I did not engage in any form of discussions or cocreation of empirical material, as already published material provided detailed descriptions. In doing so there is a need to be aware that posted texts display a specific representation of the self, which may not give access to the full practices. The chosen blogs do however both represent an outward communication which provides rich discussions on meaning and opportunities, as well as internal discussions which display challenges of changing mundane activities. In this, they provided a fairly rich description of the practice of waste minimisation. The material from the blogs was deemed to give adequate data as the three complementing interviews did not provide any extra data, but rather corroborated what was found in the blogs.

The material was processed by applying a coding based on the framework by Ritchie et al. (2013). Coding was done using a combination of predetermined and emerging codes.

There are ethical considerations to take into account when using netnography. The ethical guidelines followed in this study were established by the Association of Internet Researchers (Markham and Buchanan 2012). Material published on the internet is not self-evidently meant to be used by other parties. Since it was not viable to gain approval from all the blogging households to use their published material, I decided to omit all their names. I acknowledge the possibility that they may be traced through a search on the internet; the harm of this is, however, deemed to be small.

Reducing waste in the everyday

The households in the studied blogs do not strive to change their lives in any overwhelming ways. The only exception to this is one of the zero waste bloggers who is searching for a simple life.³ The rest of the bloggers focus on keeping up their daily practices of living in comfortable houses, shopping for groceries and going to work. In other words, practices by and large do not change. Nor do any of the bloggers write about being active in party politics or other forms of activism, or in other ways struggle to make changes to the larger structures.

Blogger B1 set out on a one-month challenge to produce no waste at all. Her first blog post is entitled: ‘Waste challenge goes extreme – living for one month without one piece of waste’. In describing her challenge, she asks:

Is it at all possible to create a world without waste? Is it possible to live completely waste-free, except for some unavoidable food waste, like banana peel, coffee grind and eggshell … ?

Already in this first post, she answers the question by claiming that some waste is unavoidable. For as Mary Douglas famously stated: where there is a system, there is waste (Douglas 1966).

Even though B1 sets out on the endeavour not to produce any waste, she makes it clear that she wants to keep up her usual lifestyle. Throughout the month she encounters situations that put her lifestyle in conflict with this endeavour. To give a few examples: she realises that there is no time to churn her own butter, so she will have to buy it in a packet; her glasses get in the way when she goes dancing, so she uses lenses instead; wine is nice with the fish soup, but there are no wine-producers in Sweden with facilities to fill customers’ own-supplied bottles, so it has to come in a single-use bottle; she wants to keep looking pretty, so there is no opting-out on the makeup or hygiene products; and she certainly does not want to refrain from using toilet paper. These examples show that the challenge of a waste-free month can indeed be hard. Living within the late-modern society and keeping up daily practices will inevitably result in some waste.

The description above displays that waste production is not an intended act, but rather an unintended consequence (Giddens 1984) of maintaining shared practices (Shove 2017).

Opportunities to reduce waste

Even though B1 does not manage to live her month completely waste-free, she writes that she reduces her monthly waste production from 15 to 20 kg to 5 kg, or 67–75%. In this B1 is putting her full focus on avoiding all waste. The rest of the bloggers have a focus of living their ordinary lives, and within that manage to minimise their waste. The contestants of the minimisation competition had reduced their waste by 35% on average, halfway into the competition (Beckman 2015). This would imply that, even though various practices continue, it can be possible to reduce household waste considerably.

A common way to reduce waste, described in the blogs, is through replacement of objects. For example, when replacing disposable objects with reusable ones. The act of replacement is seen in the BYO (bring-your-own) movement. This is one of the most salient activities in the waste minimisation lifestyle, and especially in the zero waste-blogging. The idea is to replace single-use, disposable, often plastic items with one’s own reusable ones: for example, fabric shopping bags and napkins; metal or glass bottles for water, food canteens, coffee mugs and straws, etc. The use of reusable objects is also seen in the home, where paper towels and disposable diapers are replaced with washable fabric cloths, tampons are replaced with a menstrual cup, and plastic food containers are replaced with glass or metal containers or beeswax wraps.

Blogger B1 with the ‘extreme waste challenge’ summarises her waste-free month by pointing out that the easiest waste to avoid is the replacement of disposables as described above. Fruit, vegetables and bread are frequently found at the supermarket without packaging. Groceries like fish, coffee and tea may fairly frequently be purchased unpackaged, and she claims that there is no problem in bringing her own containers. Other groceries are harder to find in bulk. However, often different stores sell different items, making her visit several stores, some not in the close neighbourhood.

Another form of activity that allows for waste reduction while keeping up practices is second-hand clothes. Blogger A1 describes how she manages to dress well without spending too much money. She calls it ‘the circular wardrobe – sustainable consumption for people who want to keep shopping’. The concept includes buying second-hand and frequently clearing out garments that you no longer use.

Personally, it wasn’t that long ago that I did a clearing out of my wardrobe, but on the other hand, I buy quite a lot of clothes (though almost exclusively second-hand), so the wardrobe is stuffed again. Thankfully I don’t feel any anxiety about clearing out. The great thing about having embraced the second-hand market and the zero waste principles is that I no longer feel sentimental towards dead things. I look at my wardrobe as a kind of loan wardrobe: I use some garments for a while and then they move on to become part of other people’s adventures, party nights and slow autumn walks. (A1)

There is no limitation to the consumption of clothes in the idea of ‘the circular wardrobe’. On the contrary, the idea is to keep the clothes in circulation so that more people can make use of the same garments. It is also interesting how the blogger writes about being thankful for not feeling anxiety. Anxiety has frequently been discussed in the media in conjunction with climate anxiety, that is knowing things are wrong but not knowing what to do. The circular wardrobe seems to provide an opportunity not only to keep up the joyful practices of clothes, but not having a guilty conscience because of unnecessarily using up resources.

One of the contestants (C9) in the minimising competition captures this idea in the concept of ‘maxi-minimising’: that is, to not miss out on anything but to leave as little as possible behind, or to get the most out of as little as possible. The idea is based on circulating clothes of high quality which can be passed on and of there being appropriate recipients (Bissmont 2020). Philosopher Gay Hawkins (2011) calls this ‘the art of transience’: to circulate things in ways that do not involve destruction.

To reflect on and criticise consumption is not uncommon in social media discussing environmental issues. Specific to these waste minimisation practitioners, however, is that they reflect on their own consumption practices. This is most commonly done through a non-shopping period. Blogger A3 explains this as a period of time when you do not consume anything, with the exception of food. There may also be exceptions for some consumables, such as gifts and services. The non-shopping period allows the bloggers to become mindful of their own consumption. Through this mindful monitoring of their own consumption, opportunities for waste minimisation become visible. These studied bloggers show that there are opportunities to reduce waste, such as replacing disposable items and engaging in the second-hand market. The bloggers however also show that the opportunities to reduce waste must be perceived in order to be taken.

Constraints to reduce waste

Lacking opportunities

As shown above, the studied bloggers frequently discuss possibilities to reduce waste as when it is possible to replace disposable items and buy second-hand clothes. But there are areas where opportunities are not always available, even though a problem is identified. One such example is avoiding chemicals. The discussion on chemicals displays that the waste minimisers engage in reducing both quantity and harmfulness of waste, which is in line with the EU definition of waste prevention (European Parliament 2008).

While replacement is a common solution in minimising disposable items, it is not always possible when trying to avoid chemicals. This is shown in this quote when discussing electronics and textiles.

The technology gadgets and the cars we own are certainly not chemical-free. Unfortunately, furniture and textiles for the home are still very expensive if you are to buy completely non-toxic. And then, second-hand won’t work because old things usually contain more dangerous substances than the new ones. (C18)

There are three difficulties presented here: no options are available in the market; options are not affordable; and the second-hand market is not a solution. Another difficulty connected to chemicals is that they are an area that requires extensive knowledge, as seen in this quote about sorting out chemicals kept in the bathroom cabinet:

These are the ones that contain any of the substances that SSNC⁴ recommend you avoid: limonene, cinnamyl alcohol, benzyl benzoate, cinnamal, linalool, methylisothiazolinone … it goes on forever. Worst of them was a facial soap containing eight of the substances on the list. The sorting out raises further questions. One eco-labelled brand contains linalool and limonene but says that they are naturally included in the vegetable oils used. Does this make it all right then or should they be avoided too? It sure isn’t easy, we will have to keep investigating … (C29)

In this case an NGO has provided a list of recommendations of substances to avoid, facilitating consumers to make sound choices. The fact that the NGO has produced this form of consumer aid indicates both the difficulty of being a mindful consumer but also that governmental regulations on chemicals are regarded as insufficient. Even though the households are mindful in their consumption of chemicals, there are still perceived problems that are hard to have agency over:

I have become better at choosing eco-labelled makeup and hygiene items, but that is mostly due to the increase in supply. The chemicals our households worry about are those that come with products without a table of contents. Furniture, clothing, shoes, plastic products … And the worries do not apply to the substances we know to be harmful and/or those regulated by legislation, but all the others. The hundreds of thousands of chemical substances that we (yet) do not know anything about may be new so they have not proved harmful. Indirectly harmful, harmful together with other substances, or harmful only in a couple of generations. (C13)

The quote displays that more opportunities are opening up as there is an increase in supply of eco-labelled products. But at the same time, there is an uncertainty of all that is not known about chemicals, displaying difficulties in being a sustainable consumer even if one tries to be.

Another difficulty in connection to fabric and clothes is that even though the minimisers see the possibility of circulating and caring for clothes there is also the connection to the textile industry not always providing circular and mendable clothes. The minimisation competition had textiles as one of their themes. The competitors were provided with examples of sustainable activities, but for this competitor, it also led to some frustration:

What disappointed me the most was that there are so few alternatives! If you want to make the right choices, what do you do? Where do you start? There is no real good answer to that. Buying second-hand, mending, patching, washing carefully or venting was the advice. Absolutely! Obviously, we should use what we have instead of buying new ones. But if the clothes wear out in no time? If the shortcomings are also in an industry where prices are squeezed, and quality is compromised? How can I possibly affect that? (C13)

The expressions of disappointment and frustration in this quote seem to come from a perceived imbalance between the efforts this competitor is willing to make and the efforts that the industry is perceived to make. The blogger is willing to act sustainably if the opportunity is given, but opportunities are here restricted by the industry. The clothing industry is narrated in this quote as something abstract and faceless, being very hard to affect.

The examples above, of chemicals, electronics and textile display that even though the bloggers struggle to reduce both the quantity and harmfulness of their waste, this is not always possible. The examples show that opportunities to act sustainably are not always available. Also, there may be perceived opportunities, but they are not possible to grasp due to being too expensive or requiring too much knowledge.

Involving other actors

The studies bloggers describe how they are able to find opportunities for waste minimising activities within shared practices. However, these new activities do not only engage the household. This is displayed in this quote that tells of bringing your own container to the lunch bar instead of using the disposable ones.

Bringing your lunch sushi in your own glass container turned out to be the big topic of conversation around the lunch table at work. Several people said they wanted to try it themselves! So, it will be exciting to see how much we can affect the lunch bars in the neighbourhood. It’s obvious that the lunch bars aren’t used to the question of bringing your own container, but there haven’t been any obstacles so far. Also, at home we’ve got a special sushi container, larger-size, for buying sushi. It was no problem at the local sushi place, but they were not used to a question like that either. (C29)

What seems to be important for this blogger is the fact that even though the lunch bars are not used to the question, there have been no obstacles. Once again displaying a tacit opportunity. The quote above also shows how the activity involves people in the surroundings, like colleagues at work and the staff at the sushi lunch bar. For new routines to be established, they need to be set within the household, but also with other actors.

Another example of how activities and routines are established beyond the household is given by blogger C18, who at the junction between the household and children’s day-care saw a possibility to make an impact on how childcare institutions relate to washable diapers:

I met some resistance when we were looking for childcare. I asked specifically, I really don’t know why, because of course they must accept a child even if it has washable diapers. I probably did a little to test the different places, how they would react. There were some people who said, ‘No, we would rather not have that.’ (C18)

She goes on to say that the childcare that she finally found is very positive towards washable diapers, since the diapers can just be put in a bag and sent home with the child, instead of having the waste-bin filled with smelly diapers. The difficulty in this situation was that in order to maintain a routine with washable diapers the blogger had to be prepared to argue for her beliefs.

Some of the bloggers in the competition write about possible conflicts when their reduction in consumption collides with expectations from their surroundings, particularly if it breaks with traditions. One such tradition is gifts. Gifts are important at birthdays, weddings, Christmas, moving into a new house, and as an expression of love. Several of the participants in the competition had these gift occasions during their non-shopping month. As alternatives to buying new things to give away, they chose to give experiences, edible things, things bought at the thrift store, or something homemade. This was a fairly easy solution when the competing families were the givers. When the situation was the opposite and the families were the recipients, it became more complicated.

Sara’s grandmother likes to buy presents and clothes for Sara. We think this is a little difficult because we try to reduce our waste and our consumption. But now it feels like she has found a way that we can accept. (C1)

The quote illustrates that acquisition is not always connected to one’s own choice of buying goods. Things may enter the household in other ways, as in this case with the caring grandmother. This family needed to establish new routines within the family, but also extend those routines outside the household.

Establishing new waste-reducing routines is not just a matter for the household, since many practices are acted in a social setting: such as childcare, buying takeaways, or buying and receiving presents. Practices of waste minimisation have in earlier research been described as acted out in the privacy of one’s own home (Bortoleto, Kurisu, and Hanaki 2012). Studied from a perspective of practice theory, this is not the case as consumption practices involve other actors.

Daring to take the leap

The families in the waste minimisation competition were given the challenge at the start of their year to try out a non-shopping month, the purpose being to make the contestants reflect on their consumption practices. One of the families writes on the blog during the month about the difficulty of not buying:

Actually, it should be easy as pie: We own a lot more clothes and gadgets than we need and would probably manage on what we have for half an eternity. We have the opportunity to make environmentally sound choices when we need to consume. We know that happiness cannot be bought with money (unless it takes the form of chocolate, of course). (C37)

The writer goes on to recount how difficult it actually is when the ‘urge to shop keeps popping up’. What is interesting in the quote is the idea that it ought to be easy. This next competitor has also reflected on ‘the urge to shop’. The concept of ‘want-need’⁵ was put forward to describe this urge.

Yet, in the family, we find that a non-shopping month is a challenge, not because there is anything we need … but because we discover things that we ‘want-need’. That word ‘want-need’ shows up most often and clearly describes the feeling when the shopping desire strikes. It’s about the gadgets we want even though they aren’t necessary at all in our lives: that stylish sweater that would be no. 24 in the wardrobe, a blanket in a new colour for the autumn or an exciting kitchen utensil to use once every two years … It is so easy to be tempted to buy!! (C36)

In using the concept of ‘want-need’ the blogger tries to convey the feeling of the shopping desire, the temptation to buy. The ‘want-need’ concept illustrates two sides to the difficulty of not shopping. There is the urge to shop, the want. And then there is the fact that everyday practices create needs. But interesting here is that there seems to be a difficulty in separating the wants from the needs.

The shopping desire seems to be covered neither by the theory that consumption is a result of everyday practices, that is inconspicuous consumption (Warde 2005; Shove 2003), nor by what Thorstein Veblen described as conspicuous consumption (Veblen 1899), that is showing off status and identity. An urge to shop for a kitchen utensil that is neither related to being a competent practitioner or a show-off seems to be more about excitement in the moment of acquisition rather than about the purpose of possessing it. Shopping has in earlier research been identified as a practice of interest to study from an environmental perspective, as it can be regarded as a leisure activity which contributes to the increasing material–intensity of other practices (Røpke 2009).

To start practising waste minimisation is described by some of the bloggers as choosing an alternative lifestyle or, even, ‘to dare to take the leap’ (A1, C18). This is an interesting metaphor as they do not make a choice to completely overthrow their lives and leave modern society, or to become activists. The following quote may reveal why this choice may be described as a leap:

How can you minimise waste when you are already recycling, you might wonder? If you had asked us as a family a year ago, we would undoubtedly have been able to pat ourselves on the back and claim that we are already sorting our waste and are quite good at recycling. But how is it possible to minimise your waste if you already believe you are doing everything right? (C36)

The fact that they thought that they were already doing everything right is important here. In Sweden recycling is well developed, and there is the belief that Swedes excel at it. The idea of already doing everything right thus transforms into an obstacle to taking any further steps to reduce waste. Another piece of the puzzle can be found in a quote by A2 when she explains on her blog what a zero-waste lifestyle means:

Actually, it is exactly what it sounds like, that is, a lifestyle where you basically do not produce any waste at all. I know, it sounds completely crazy – or, above all, impossible. (A2)

To produce no waste at all is an impossible task: this is something B1 clearly showed in her experiment. But we do not really need to make such an experiment to realise that this is a crazy and impossible task. And the very idea that this is crazy and impossible is a hindrance in itself. So, the ‘leap’ that these people are talking about would be not just to start questioning the norms of recycling and shopping, but to embark on a journey that by many is deemed as very difficult or even impossible.

Discussion

Waste prevention for the studied bloggers is a specific practice. It is narrated as such as it entails habit, routine and competence, as well as specific meanings and doings (Gregson, Metcalfe, and Crewe 2007). In studying waste prevention activities as part of a practice the idea is to understand how these activities may spread beyond these studied forerunners and become a wider shared practice.

When applying practice theory in the study of household waste it follows that household waste production is not always a deliberate activity but an unintended consequence of maintaining shared practices. Still, this study shows that it is possible to reduce household waste while keeping up shared practices within modern Swedish society. The studied bloggers apply the idea of ‘maxi-minimising’: to not miss out on anything but to leave as little as possible behind. This is possible as practices are blocks of activities (Reckwitz 2002) and that actors do not participate in practices in identical ways (Warde 2005). While shared practices are maintained, waste reduction is acted out by altering some of its activities, for example replacing the disposable container with one’s own reusable when buying takeaway.

For these waste minimising activities to happen the three elements of meaning, material and competence need to link together. This happens when the bloggers are able to replace disposable objects, circulate clothes and refuse chemicals. But when the links between the elements are broken, as when too much knowledge in order to avoid chemicals is required or quality of clothes is too low to be circulated, then waste prevention activities do not happen.

Disposable products and second-hand clothes, and to some extent the avoidance of chemicals are areas commonly discussed in relation to minimising waste while keeping up shared practices. These are areas where the bloggers see opportunities to reduce both the quantities and harmfulness of their waste. Electronics, on the other hand, is a group of products that is frequently discussed as a waste problem, but to a much lesser extent in connection to their personal consumption. The reason for this may be that the bloggers do not perceive any opportunities to reduce this waste, as such opportunities are not provided. In earlier research, the difficulty of keeping electronics out of the waste stream is connected to lack of competence in repairing as well as in deciding whether it is worth paying a professional to repair and also to the idea that it is cheaper to buy new (Bissmont 202). In connection to electronics, the elements do not link together, so opportunities to minimise waste while keeping up shared practices are not found. Rather, the households need to make the choice either to keep the practices that require the electronic object or to reduce waste by not acquiring and using the object.

The waste minimisers are strongly motivated to reduce their waste. Still, the element of meaning is discussed in connection to social norms. Some norms, such as shopping as leisure activity and the perception that recycling is good enough do not support a waste minimising lifestyle. Moving against these norms is by some of the bloggers narrated as ‘daring to take the leap’, displaying that it is not a small and easy thing to move against them. Here the blogging plays an important part. It provides a frame for discussing and meeting with others of the same interest. Zero waste-blogging has in earlier studies been shown to provide a place for interaction and learning as well as for creating a collective frame that inspires and motivates (Pedersen 2017; Oldensjö 2018).

The strong norm of recycling may be connected to Swedish waste management’s primary objective to handle and obscure waste (Svingstedt and Corvellec 2018). Hawkins (2006) claims that when waste is regulated to its proper place, in the dump or the garbage truck, it has been regulated and rendered passive and out of sight, and will no longer provoke activity.

Household waste prevention is claimed in earlier research not to have ‘a stage for performance’ (Barr, Gilg, and Ford 2001), which I would claim it does. The replacement of objects with, for instance, reusable takeaway containers displays a form of conspicuous consumption (Veblen 1899), not in showing off wealth, but rather it has a potential to display another form of status: that of being aware and not following the norms of the wasteful society. Waste prevention is not, as is the case with recycling, performed through the waste-bin, but through other processes. Neither is household waste minimisation limited to the privacy of one’s own home, as claimed in earlier research (Bortoleto, Kurisu, and Hanaki 2012). In trying out new activities the bloggers repeatedly talk about involving other actors, such as the personnel at the lunch bar, colleagues and relatives. Establishing new routine that lead to waste minimisation is not always carefree as it involves other actors.

This study suggests that if waste prevention is to become a shared practice more opportunities to reduce waste need to be provided, and also spread. The second-hand market for clothes in Sweden is a good example of a spread, normalised, opportunity. The practice of second-hand shopping has emerged due to the elements of meaning, material and competence connecting. There is a common acceptance, well-developed infrastructure, as well as skilled second-hand consumers. Other activities carried out by the waste minimisers, such as bringing your own container to the lunch bar has not (yet) developed into a shared practice even though there are no real obstacles. Rather, there is a lack of normalisation (Shove 2003). The waste minimisers display that there are several opportunities for waste prevention that may be spread. Working to normalise these opportunities can be one way of establishing waste prevention as a shared practice. Still, this study has also identified areas where opportunities are hard to grasp and also lacking. There is, in other words, a need to identify were opportunities need to be created and also how this can be done. This calls for further research.

Acknowledgements

This article was written as part of a cooperation between VA SYD and the University of Malmö. The author wishes to express gratitude to Professor Kerstin Sandell, who has acted as the main supervisor and who has shown great support during the writing of this article.

Disclosure statement

The author declares no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mimmi Bissmont

Mimmi Bissmont is a PhD-student at the University of Malmö, Sweden. Her reseach focuses on waste, waste prevention and consumption and how these issues can be studied from a sociological perspective.

Notes

1. Instagram #zerowaste 2019–11-16.

2. Search done on Google 2019–09-11 for zero waste blogs.

3. A simple life includes working fewer hours, while enjoying a lower cost of living, etc.

4. Swedish Society for Nature Conservation.

5. In Swedish, ‘villhöver’.