Dirty is in the eye of the beholder

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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.3/228806

Title: Dirty is in the eye of the beholder
Author(s): Petras, Kathleen
Abstract: Would you arrive at work, school or in any public arena in a stained shirt? What if the shirt was clean except for one visible blemish? Most of us would not. Our mothers have long ago instilled in us the 'knowledge' that this is a faux pas, embarrassing at best, detrimental to social status at worst. But how did Mother come to know this? She didn't have to refer to a book of etiquette, it was only necessary to be born and raised in the company of fellow humans. This paper will examine our behaviour in the modern laundry, given it is not much thought about and may benefit from a little unpacking in terms of its sustainability characteristics. Let's take our neatly pressed spotless shirts and shake out the answers. But first let's start with the following question: when we look at our laundry habits, what do we see?
Publication type: Journal article
Research centre: Swinburne University of Technology. National Centre for Sustainability
Source: Journal of the National Centre for Sustainability, Vol. 1, no. 1 (Jun 2012)
Publication year: 2012
Keyword(s): Behaviour change; Clothing; Dirt; Domestic washing machines; Environmental impact; Laundry; Social impact; Sustainability; Traditions
Publisher: National Centre for Sustainability, Swinburne University of Technology
Publisher URL: http://www.swinburne.edu.au/ncs/ncsjournal.html