Exploring The Role of an Eco-Feedback System in Shaping Household Consumption to Encourage Sustainable Practices in Everyday Life

Adopting sustainable consumption practices in households is challenging due to the complexities of everyday life. Although eco-feedback technology supports people’s environmental actions in households through the provision of feedback about resource consumption, people still find it difficult to use these systems in relation to their everyday lives. We present the results of a field study in which participants from 15 households used a mobile application, Eco-Garden, for three weeks. Eco-Garden provides information about household resource consumption and encourages sustainable practices at home. Our findings show how Eco-Garden encouraged members of the households to reflect, shift consumption practices, and support planning for future usage. Family involvement played a major role in driving social accountability and fostering sustainable habits. Our results show the gendered nature of domestic work, where women often take more responsibility for household management and sustainable activities. We noted goal-setting, self-motivation and an individual sense of responsibility motivated through Eco-Garden encouraged sustainable practices in households. We discussed how self-reporting and goal-setting features can enhance self-motivation and a sense of responsibility, encouraging sustainable practices in households. We suggest that future eco-feedback systems need to help bridge the gender divide in household sustainable activities while balancing comfort and consumption reduction.