Women's Work: Eco-Feminist Approaches to Sustainable Environmental Design

N. Claire Napawan (University of California Davis, Department of Human Ecology)

Globally, women spend on average 260 minutes on unpaid domestic labor daily (as compared to 80 minutes on average for men) -- in developing nations, women contribute an even greater proportion of time to unpaid domestic labor than men. These daily tasks and decisions (such as cooking, cleaning, and caretaking) are often overlooked and undervalued in societies worldwide; however, what we choose to eat, how we clean our homes, and the lessons we teach our children can have an enormous impact on greenhouse gas emissions, infrastructure performance, and overall environmental health and sustainability. This presentation will challenge current approaches to sustainable environmental design practice -- an approach, the presenters argue, that capitalizes on technology-driven solutions. Drawing from ecofeminist theory and precedents in American feminist environmental art, an alternative approach is explored that reveals the significance of community-rooted and process-based sustainability efforts. Most significantly, these efforts can begin to elevate the undervalued role of ‘women’s work’ in contributing to sustainability in the built environment.