“Smart” homes and what they mean – energy, consumption, #funwashing…

Last week Dr Tom Hargreaves came to Manchester and delivered an interesting seminar (for the Sustainable Consumption Institute) on “Smart homes, energy use and every day life.”

The idea of “fun washing” (as akin to greenwashing etc) popped up.  My understanding is that it a rhetorical/advertising ploy to get people past the anxiety of their energy consumption by having them think something along the lines of  “Well, it looks fun and enjoyable!  (And I am a good person who deserves fun and enjoyable things. And if it is good for me, and I am a good person then therefore …) it can’t be bad for the environment, can it?” #antinomianism

Here’s a recent paper, and below are the videos of a) his presentation and b) the Q and A session.

Gonna buy an ickle tripod (it will be useful and enjoyable. And I am a good person who deserves…) and also start asking questioners if they are cool with being filmed and posted on youtube…