Green tenants in the private rented sector (#journal)

Green tenants: practicing a sustainability ethics for the rental housing sector

The shift towards social, government and corporate ethics which value environmental sustainability has clearly embraced householders. However, the private rental sector has yet to participate in this shift to an ethics of sustainability. Yet even on such otherwise arid ground, a sustainability ethic is being practiced by green tenants. These activities offer both glimpses of a greening rental housing sector, and a clearer picture of the areas where work remains to be done. It is suggested that these activities are a form of care for the world, similar to Maria Puig de la Bellacasa's practice-based ethics exemplified in the permaculture movement. The stories of the tenants interviewed  also point the way to other changes needed to enable a practice-based sustainability ethic to flourish across the rental housing sector.