Quiet Sustainability

The concept of quiet sustainability is defined as comprising of: widespread practices that result in beneficial environmental or social outcomes and that do not relate directly or indirectly to market transactions but [sic] are not represented by their practitioners as relating directly to environmental or sustainability goals. These practices represent exuberant, appealing and socially inclusive, but also unforced, forms of sustainability. (Smith & Jehlička, 2013: 148) Despite the undertone of inconspicuousness, the concept of quiet sustainability (QS) represents a departure from the mainstream understanding of sustainable consumption and lifestyles. Specifically, it presents a counterpoint to the so-called ABC model (see Behavior Change), according to which attitudes (A) drive behavior (B) which people choose (C) to adopt. While the ABC model remains popular among policymakers and certain scholarly debates on sustainable consumption, it has also been criticized (see Attitude-Behavior Gap, Social Practice Theory). The model privileges deliberate actions driven by conscious ethical values. As a result, it fails to account for everyday practices driven by motivations that are unrelated to political activism but nonetheless have sustainable outcomes. The notion of QS addresses this gap by highlighting practices characterized more succinctly as “sustainability by outcome rather than intention”.