Category: House

Last week we moved to a new house. My father has been promoted to chief executive position and the company has allotted us a bigger house. It has five rooms, both of us, my older brother and I, got our separate rooms. My brother’s room is smaller than mine and also at the very last corner of the house. Mine is exactly beside the dining hall. My room is unique as compared to everyone else’s room in the house because of the wooden floor, queen size bed, and two large windows.

The floor in my room is wooden, and it creaks when stepped on. The floor is not made of original wood, but rather with make belief wooden tiles. Though these wooden tiles look worn out in some places, it gives a clean outlook. Moreover, I have covered the worn-out part of the floor with one white plush carpet that has covered the entire center area. The carpet is rather clean-looking, considering it is white and that it is not washed regularly. On the left side of the carpet near the door is a leather chair, which is of no particular use, besides hanging half-used clothes on it. Strangely, the right corner of the floor has flower-printed tiles, which give a very odd look initially, but now I have placed my study table above it to hide it completely.

From center-left to far-left is my queen-size bed, with white and grey covers, and white and other colors for the blanket. The blanket in particular has a floral design and is heavy. My pillow has a white case and nothing else to it. The frame of the bed is wooden and beige in color. The backside of the bed is around 3 and a half feet tall, it has an intricately carved floral pattern.

Above, to the right of the bed, is a narrow-elongated window, which allows one to view the sky and the neighbor’s fence. On the sill, there is a candle lamp, which I never use. I can often find dead insects on the sill as well, such as flies. The second window about 5 feet tall is at the left corner of the room, it has a sliding glass pan, and even when the glass pan is completely locked, the wind gets in from the frames of the window. It gets really cold in winter because the fog also seeps in little by little through the tiny broken part of window frames. The windows have sea-green glass pans that do not make a good impression of my room, neither they match with maroon curtains hanging in front of them.

My room is small but I love having my own space, I have planned to collect pocket money to spread a carpet on the entire floor, I would request my father to change the glass of windows with transparent glass panels, and I like the bed as it is. I am really thankful for what I have.

The word ‘Chore’ came from the word ‘Chare’ which means an odd job in Middle English. Before the Industrial Revolution, economic fabrication was organized in and throughout people’s houses. All household members, resident servants, and apprentices contributed to the good maintenance of the home and to the production of goods that benefited the family. When we were young, we used to do chores every day at home to earn what we wanted from our parents whether its playing games, going outside to meet friends, or even earning extra allowance to buy what we wanted. Chores are defined as the regular or daily light work of a household or farm or a routine task or job children were each assigned to do at home. (Merriam-Webster) Nowadays, children do not want to do house chores because they think it doesn’t benefit them in any way. From a personal experience, I was able to learn a lot through doing chores given by my parents and I was able to learn a lot of virtues and manners through chores. Not many people like to run errands because it’s not one’s job, it’s a job that you do on behalf of someone else’s request. Especially, when one is engrossed in something, heshe often gets annoyed when a superior asks him /her to run an errand. Chores have their own benefits and detriments to people who do them.

There are a lot of benefits when we do chores that can be helpful to us in our daily lives. From a first-person perspective, I have experienced the good effects that chores give. First of all, when one does chores, heshe is able to meet the need of others. Meeting the needs of others means providing what is needed for others not just physically but also mentally. According to Clark, meeting people’s needs does not only mean caring about what’s on the outside, but we also have to look deeper and see what is really inside of the person. People encounter doing chores when they are young and it taught them a lot of virtues and skills needed to live in today’s world. When people go into the adult world, adjusting to society is a difficult problem for them and the need of social skills are needed in order to have a proper social life. According to a study in Michigan State University Extension, kids get more out of chores than we might think. They believe that kids who help with household chores will grow better as a person. Kids also gain confidence and self-efficacy which can help them achieve their goals. According to an article written by KJ Dell’Antonia (The New York Times,2018), a long study was done over a period of 25 years and the study shows that the best predictor for young adults’ great success in their mid-20s was whether they participated in household chores at the ages of 3 or 4. She also states that children who help more doing chores feel a bigger sense of obligation and connection to their parents and that connection helps them become happier. According to an article, “The skills that kids learn early will last most of their lives. Chores teach kids skills that they will need to survive on their own and to get along with others,” psychologist Dr. Shane Owens tells Fatherly (Vinopal, 2019). Chores are one of the first opportunities where children are able to learn basic skills and be responsible. These skills will also be used when they grow up and start living alone or with their own family. According to an interview in an article from Fatherly, Owens claims that kids who do chores learn to organize their time and to delay gratification and both of those are vital skills for later success (Owens,2021). Even wealthy people who started from the bottom did chores as mentioned in an article posted by CNBC, two of the richest people in the world made one ordinary chore part of their daily routine which led them to great success. Billionaires such as Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon and currently the richest person in the world, and Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft are both people who did ordinary chores such as cleaning up after family dinners (CNBC.com Careers,2017). Finally, chores can help these kids become better people in the future while working or even with their own families. These kids who grow up and work in society will have a better time dealing with upper people and be able to do work easier. Chores are a powerful indicator in life due to the strong effects it gives on the kids who do them. Through chores, patience can be learned by kids due to the patience needed in doing chores because it requires time. Self-dedication can also be learned due to the need for a goal and the cause of the doing of chores. Trustworthiness can also be learned through chores because of the trust needed between the parents and the kids when doing chores. Without trust, a parent will not ask his/her child to do household chores for him/her, and without trust, the kids will not accept any requests from the parents because kids will want something in return after doing chores.

For the past decade, the technique used in houses has considerably improved in quality. This is seen throughout this report including ways in which the foundation of the house is the most vital component to keeping a well-formed structure. The way in which this is conveyed is by specifically explaining each of the elements, materials, and products of the foundation and the role they play. Through the use of sketches, I have gone from the route into the house and more to explain the importance of gas and the measures in place to ensure it is safe through building regulations and standards. Furthermore, on the subject of sustainability, in this report, there is a perspective of the house having existing sustainable features and ways in which this can be improved to help reduce C02 emissions and also the occupier’s money. In contrast, this section on health and safety is all about preventative measures to do with safety of the people working on the dwelling if it was to undergo an extension or remedial works. Throughout this report, there are many numerous photographs and pictures used to help convey the techniques and products discussed in this report. 4 scale drawings are used in this report to give an understanding to the reader of what I am explaining. There is a drawing of the front elevation of the house, a floor plan, section through both the foundation and the roof.

Description of the foundation and the roof

Firstly, the foundation that is going to be spoken about in this report is a strip foundation, this foundation has many advantages as it is a fairly shallow foundation meaning there is no need for a huge amount of digging. It is normally reinforced with steel rebar throughout the strip. It has a mass concrete foundation of roughly 500mm deep with a grade of C20/25. I would assume that this mass concrete foundation would have penetrated at least 150mm of soil that has not been dug up before, the bearing strata (the soil that will take the load of the dwelling), this would allow for even more reinforcement. Following on from this is a 100mm wide 7.3Newton block that would consist of the inner leaf of the house. The cavity from the concrete foundation to the ground level would be filled with concrete. In addition, externally my house is formed of a 100mm red clay-facing brick. The first-floor layer of my foundation is a pre-stressed 150mm deep beam and medium-density block floor, these blocks bear onto load-bearing walls. 150mm above the finished floor level is where you will find the DPC (damp proof course) this will ensure that any rising moisture from the foundation will be forced away from the habitable part of the house preventing dampness and moisture in the dwelling.

The roof pitch of my house is a 51-degree angle that has a 65mm overhang this, therefore, means it requires a soffit that is 115mm so that it can be fixed to the external brickwork so that it neatens up the rafters that are sticking out of the side of the house. The 150mm cavity rock wool insulation follows all the way into the roof detail so that heat is kept in the house and cold is kept out. Throughout this roof structure, there are 140mm roof struts that will stabilize and ensure the roof keeps its form. All the way from the foundation to the roof structure there will be the same 100mm internal block and internal facing brick, which would follow with a 100mm x50mm wall plate which will have a higher bearing capacity to allow for the roof frame to sit. This allows for reduced damage or distortion of the bricks and blocks.

Elements

As mentioned in the foundation section each of the walls in my dwelling consist of an outer brick skin secluded from an inner block wall by a channeled air space called a cavity. This specific wall is important to a house as it adds to its thermal value. The walls that are in this house will have better water resistance and thermal rating compared to a historic domestic building that would be constructed from solid brick or block. The blocks that are used on my dwelling will be Thermalite insulated blocks meaning they will have a greater U-value than a conventional block, this is because it doesn’t allow as much heat lost.

The element that I will be discussing in more detail is the reinforcement in the concrete and the rebar. The way in which this is achieved is that it “spreads the loads evenly over the footing and avoids that the horizontal forces tear the foundation apart” (Gian Luca Brunetti, 2016). This is very important as the whole purpose of the foundation is to spread the load of the house and its weight. Having this rebar to reinforce the foundation is a positive as it then helps provide greater strength due to extra loads such as imposed, environmental, and wind loads that all get passed down into the foundation. The foundation is the most important part of the house, as it is the trunk of a tree. The foundation is the same it is the trunk of the rest of the house above it, this, therefore, means that there is increased strength through using this rebar in the strip. Each corner below the angle of 180 degrees of the strip foundation will have separate bars in addition that are not continuous to allow for more strength to combat the horizontal force.

Materials

When using concrete for the foundation it needs to be cured in the correct manner so concrete can achieve its designed strength. The way in which this is performed is a process called hydration, this is when the chemical reaction of cement and water is controlled carefully to ensure it will set appropriately to the environment, in my example the foundation on which my house sits. The problem with just letting the concrete in the foundations set normally is that the hydration in the concrete forms rapid shrinking, then generating the deformations and cracks observed in some construction works such as dwellings like the one in this report. In addition, there are ways in which to improve the form of this hydration as this is through pozzolans in the cement. “The use of pozzolans in cement reduces the heat released during hydration” (M.I. Sánchez de Rojas Gómez, M. Frías Rojas,2013). Although I don’t know this for a fact I can assume that pozzolans would have been in the cement of the strip foundations of my dwelling so that it would ensure a stronger and more effective concrete solution supporting my dwelling.

Products

Concrete beams and blocks use the technique of placing concrete blocks 100mm between 50mm ‘T’ beams to sum a total floor depth of 150mm between the void, soil below, and the insulation/screed above. The reason why this is such a benefit to most modern houses constructed is that it can save both time and money. The way in which this is achieved is that the beam and block are not bespoke to each site or house, it is the same in each of the developments meaning it saves time having to cut and shape to suit. Beam and block flooring is elevated meaning it doesn’t have to be excavated in order to install, this will not just save time but a lot of money as soil can be very expensive to distribute. Most of the beam and block flooring that is installed follow robust details that will follow British standards regarding fire resistance and acoustic properties. This strength is achieved by a means of a ‘counter brace for supporting the beam and providing structural strength’ (). This is therefore very important that this counter brace is included on this beam and block flooring as it provides a self-supporting technique to the flooring that means less design and groundwork required, saving money and time.

Description of gas using sketches

Internal services installations

The boiler that has been installed into my dwelling is a combination boiler, this boiler will need servicing every 12 months to ensure it will work at its peak. The reason why these boilers are so good is that they provide instantaneous hot water to the dwelling. It is handy when the dwelling has limited space in lofts and areas around the houses as it does not require cisterns or cylinders. Some of the radiators in the house have thermostatic valves and some won’t due to some of the main rooms having thermostats to control the overall temperature of the house. The system has an in line scale inhibitor on the mains water, likewise with the mains water the heating system will have an inhibitor. This is so important as it provides protection against corrosion build-up in the pipes prolonging the life of the heating system.

External services installations

My house has a gas meter fitted just above the first 4 courses of plinth brick, this meter will have an earth wire that runs out of the meter box into the ground as a protective measure. When the external gas pipes pass through into the house it is important that they do not touch the brickwork or pass under the foundations. This is all because of movement, movement is always expected to happen in the house under the foundations this is because of the imposed loads above it. The foundations can survive this but pipes will not. These pipes will therefore be passed through a duct out of sight from any cavities in the house, making sure that all cavities in the house are sealed keeping the house regulated. Another positive of these pipes running through a duct is the fact that it makes the route easy when installing them without damaging the floor or the ducts saving greater problems later on down the line. There are three suitable materials that the pipes should be made out of for any external services, copper, steel and polyethylene (which is normally used underground instead of above ground).

Sustainability

The house that I live in I would say is sustainable, the reason I say this is because it has an MVHR system that automatically ventilates the house. This is therefore very sustainable due to the fact that the system will monitor the amount of moisture in the house and adapts its performance to maintain the correct environment. When you look at the deterioration of houses internally it is normally down to a lack of dampness and moisture control that will eventually eat into the elements of the house.

Moreover, my house is a new build that was completed in December 2018. This, therefore, means that the energy and the predicted energy rating are both very positive, as seen by the certificate above. If I was to improve the sustainability of my house I would look to bring in the use of solar panels. These solar panels can be expensive like every other sustainable method used to improve energy ratings, this method is practically sustainable as they reduce the carbon footprint of the home. ‘40 minutes the amount of energy contained in the light of the sun that reaches the Earth is equivalent to the amount of electrical energy used on the planet in a year’s time. This statement shows how there is more than enough solar panel research for homes to install these as a mandatory item. The photo voltaic rays are always expected as the sun is sticking around for another billion years, meaning the efficiency will always be sustainable in providing cheaper and less carbon energy. The only thing that isn’t sufficient so far about this process of sustainability is the price, until further research is introduced to lower the price many houses will still suffer with low levels of sustainability.

The other factor which makes solar panels so effective in this subject of sustainability is that they do not create any noise, sound, or hazardous products. There is even further research regarding solar panels that not only sit in a fixed position but will follow the sun’s movement to try and utilize as much of the sun’s energy as possible. With all these positives also come some negatives including the fact that the materials that the solar panels are made from are non-renewable materials. This technique is such a positive as it can be used directly to provide warm water and general electricity in a dwelling, this is the main reason why I have chosen to speak about solar panels as I feel like it is the most suited system for households. The solar panels would be situated on top of the roof meaning that they wouldn’t take up any unnecessary space in the household.

Health and Safety

CDM (construction Design and management) regulation is the first go-to Health and safety factor as it provides a key governing foundation for a project of any size and caliber. The reason why I think this is such a key part of the health and safety of construction projects is that it doesn’t just involve the developers or builders, it involves all parties involved in the process of construction; such as client, designer, principal developer, and subcontractors.

If my house was to undergo renovation works, then I as a client would allocate a professional contractor or project coordinator that would have a prepared disciplined construction phase plan for the conduct of work. This would therefore provide the relevant presentation of health and safety at all times. Furthermore, a professional contractor would safeguard a working building site with the addition of RAMS (Risk Assessment Method Statement) from each Subcontractor with a pre-tender analysis of their scope of work and the possible risks involved. Having a pre-tender meeting would mean liaison and therefore a reduced risk of misunderstanding between the two parties.

Visible, Coherent, and comprehensible. Health and safety signs advise an individual swiftly through a series of colors and meanings for example; red-prohibition, yellow –Hazard-, Blue – Mandatory, and green – safe condition. In addition, it is compulsory for employers to provide pictorial symbols, fire/emergency escape signs, and marking of hazardous areas. These are vital to a construction cycle as it provides rapid responses from individual triggering a switched-on mindset to the dangers and jeopardy around them.

As Seen by the graph above it shows the importance of using PPE, as the main injuries are caused by hand and arm, foot, eye, and face protection, and lastly general PPE all not worn. A lot of these the contractors and sub-contractors will have the basic PPE that will limit the chances of these injuries; hand – gloves, feet – steel toe caps and hard hat and protective goggles/glasses. Along with these mandatory items that are given out to workers there are regulations that are used to help protect workers and people.

The two regulations that I am going to talk about in this example are RIDDOR(reporting of injuries, diseases, and dangerous occurrences regulations) and COSHH (Control of substances hazardous to health). Firstly, COSHH is a control measure against hazardous substances, especially in a form of a fact sheet which allows for guidance. With this type of measure comes two sheets, one that is direct advice and the other being a generic control. RIDDOR is guidance that assists employees and people that are in control of work premises to report injuries that are obtained in a workplace. Furthermore, this can also help with diseases and near misses. These two regulations are very important to a workplace such as my dwelling if it was to become a place of work as they ensure a control measure throughout and a guide if something does go wrong.

Reflection

The information that has been correlated from this report shows the extent to which houses have been improved dramatically over the years. This includes the in-depth design of foundations in the case of this report a complex strip foundation reinforced with rebar’s through adding to its strength properties. In addition, the form of concrete and ways in which to improve its function shows the thought that goes into most modern dwellings in the age we live in compared to a century ago.

The sustainability of dwellings is forever improving by the minute through various building regulations and legislations such as air test targets, u values, thermal properties in windows, etc. In the example of this report, the way in which research has helped my house become sustainable is with the introduction of the MVHR system (Mechanical ventilation and heat recovery). This has aided the house in numerous ways which will reduce dampness and moisture meaning the quality standard of the dwelling will be maintained. Furthermore, it will help reduce costs as heat will not escape the house as easily saving the consumers money.

In the last 30 years, health and safety have had a huge boost with many regulations coming into action that maintain the welfare of many workers and innocent everyday people that encounter live building works. It is always important that companies and people understand the importance of these rules and regulations, this ensures that if dwellings like the one in this report ever undergo works the appropriate measures are taken to maintain safety.

Household consumption is a core issue in sustainable development and has been at the centre of governmental policy making and the push towards sustainability due to its ease of access and influence. The household is considered low hanging fruit (Vandenbergh, Barkenbus and Gilligan, 2008) and is therefore targeted as a potential baseline for sustainable change. Consumption itself is clearly a major issue within sustainable development, with increases being seen across the board from household water consumption in the UK having risen by 70% between 1970 and 2000 (Yorkshire Water, 2001; Shove, 2003), to consistent increases in household waste generation in Scotland, with 2.4 million tonnes being produced in 2019; 17,000 tonnes more than the previous year (Scottish Environment Protection Agency, 2020). The household is important as it is a place of concentrated consumption, and over-consumption, of food, energy and water, as well as issues which come from consumption such as both food and packaging waste. The dominant belief is that the habits and behaviours of individuals, or individual households, is where the biggest change towards more sustainable practice can occur, rather than systemic change; what Shove refers to as the paradigm of ABC attitude, behaviour and choice (Shove, 2010: 1). However, the government-led technological processes and policies put in place are also important for discussing household consumption. This brief will look at the problems surrounding recycling habits, as an example of household consumption, in the Scottish household through the analysis of social practice theory, as well as the state-run technological processes for recycling, and their impact on recycling rates, through the analysis of ecological modernisation.

The UK has been formally recycling since 2003, when the Household Waste Recycling Act was enshrined in law (Friends of the Earth, 2016). The Scottish Government, however, is leading the way towards increased rates of recycling with aims to make Scotland a zero-waste society with a circular economy by 2025 (cite). This can be seen through a variety of policies which have or will be put in place, such as the introduction of the Single Use Carrier Bags Charge (Scotland) Regulations 2014, a year before it was introduced by England; the introduction of a deposit return scheme for drinks containers, and further funding for Zero Waste Scotland and the Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA). However, there is a long way to go. Scotland’s households recycle, on average, under half of what they could (rate of 44.9% in 2019) (Scottish Environment Protection Agency, 2020), meaning there is massive room for improvement. The rate of recycling has decreased by 0.6% since 2017, meaning something must be done if the goal of zero-waste by 2025 is to be achieved. There are many reasons why recycling is such a challenging problem to mitigate. For example, all 32 council areas in Scotland have different regulations on what can be recycled, and provide different amounts and colours of bins for different types of recyclables (Wilson and Nicolson, 2019). Some areas will accept some types, and others will not, for example: West Lothian will accept carrier bags, Moray will accept aerosol canisters, and Clackmannanshire will accept batteries and textiles. This variation in what is accepted and where across the country can make recycling incredibly confusing when visiting or moving to other parts of Scotland. Glass is a major issue as many areas do not offer kerbside collection and therefore residents are responsible for taking their glass to a bottle bank, which can be difficult for many if there isn’t a recycling point nearby, or if one doesn’t own a car to get there. Alongside this, not offering kerbside collection for glass means many are simply not motivated to recycle their glass, and therefore it is put in the normal bin for landfill. Enabling the household to sort their recyclables into different bins can help to keep costs down for the State, however contamination is a common issue with some plastic is not cleaned, is put in the wrong bin, or is mixed with general waste, resulting in the waste instead being put to landfill or being incinerated. Many forms of packaging can also not be recycled, or are only partly recyclable, resulting in more confusion for the individual in the household when it comes to sorting, with a poll conducted by the BBC finding that 47% of people argue with others in their home about what can be recycled (Stephenson, 2018). With these examples, it can be said that recycling is extremely important to consider in terms of sustainable development as it presents a solution to waste, and therefore must have its potential maximised through individual practice as well as systemic practice.

Patterns of household recycling can be recognised by social practice. Social practice theory (SPT) describes the regular, familiar, routine actions which an individual carries out within a society, both influenced by the environment of that society, as well as creating the society through these actions (Giddens, 1984). Warde cites Reckwitz, writing that individuals are carrier(s) of patterns of behaviour, and that a practice is a routinized type of behaviour which consists of several elements, interconnected to one other.

These actions which Giddens, Warde and Reckwitz discuss can be observed and recognised to learn more about what individuals in a society do in relation to consumption and predict what they will do if a social change is to occur. Røpke (2009) explains how these social practices require an element of consumption, and draws on Shove and Pantzar’s (2005) model of the social practice of consumption as made up of material, meaning and competence. With the issue of recycling, we can look at the waste itself be it plastic packaging, cans, glass etc., the various types of recycling bins for sorting, or the recycling symbol and number on the packaging, as the material. The meaning would be to aim to reduce waste, the social expectation to recycle, and feeling as though you are doing something environmentally friendly. The competence element relates to one’s knowledge of recycling regulations in their area, knowing how to clean food waste from recyclables to reduce contamination, and the ability to decipher what can and cannot be recycled, mostly from the aforementioned symbols and numbers on packaging. Looking at SPT and this model is important for understanding everyday consumption and can enlighten us about the problems surrounding rates of recycling through the regular practices and materials, meanings and competences which are attached.

Ecological modernisation (EM) uses technological and innovation approaches to governmental policy and environmental issues. It is “the introduction of environmental technology which also increases resource productivity while also taking marketability and economic viability into consideration (Jänicke, 2008: 1). EM is normally used to discuss pollution reduction through carbon markets; however, it could also be used to describe the technological processes and governmental policies which have been put in place to deal with increasing levels of waste. It is deemed a win-win solution and is optimistic in its attempt to tackle environmental issues without total systemic and social change which may be unrealistic. With regards to recycling, EM has been used to work on reducing waste and creating a semi-circular economy through the recycling of material. It would be unrealistic to eradicate product packaging altogether, therefore EM has been used as a solution. For example, the development and introduction of compostable bioplastics has been a positive advancement away from the primarily used oil-based plastics. However, EM does not always produce the most useful solutions, though often widely accepted by the public as the way forward. Compostable bioplastics have taken over the hospitality sector for take-away coffees and food, but in reality, are proving a massive problem for recycling facilities as they are easily confused as recyclable and are therefore thrown in with the normal recyclables (Niaounakis, 2015). This incurs large costs for the facilities which have to implement increased sorting. It is also a problem for the physical environment, as they are advertised as compostable so many believe they will simply decompose when put in a normal bin for landfill. However, these bioplastics must be industrially decomposed, which alongside being energy intensive, has been extremely confusing for consumers. It must be considered that bioplastics do pose a possible future solution to finite oil-based plastics, however. It is clear that EM is often used as a realistic solution to keep everyone happy for a while, until it is realised that it was not a true solution, and by then it is often too late.

Ecological modernisation and social practice theory are both very important when considering the issue of rates of recycling. They are intertwined, with social practice influencing the development of EM solutions, and EM solutions influencing social practice. The interconnectedness between the two seems to perpetuate a resistance against systemic change. However, it cannot be ignored that elements of EM are causing difficulty for individuals and their ability to carry out social practice through the confusion of the composability and recyclability of bioplastics, as well as the complexity of types of plastics recycled at different local authority facilities (Stephenson, 2018). It is often the responsibility of the household to do the primary sorting of recyclables, however the confusion which comes along with it can be demotivating and result in the individual losing interest and putting the packaging where is most convenient.

To conclude, recycling is an important facet of household consumption which must be considered due to a concentration of waste being produced within the household, of which a massive proportion can be recycled. Scotland is focusing heavily on the future of recycling and observing the social practice behind recycling in the household as well as looking at the ecological modernisation solutions and how they influence one another can greatly improve the government’s approach to increasing rates of recycling. However, looking at the negative impacts EM is having on social practice, which could be a factor in the extremely slow increase in recycling rates, may offer some important information into where improvements can be made to support households, rather than continue to confuse and demotivate them.