Invisible Sustainability: Gendered Circular Resource Practices and Household Climate Resilience in Rural Bangladesh

Abstract

Households are not just sites of consumption but dynamic systems that constantly manage, reuse and recirculate resources through everyday practices. This study investigates the household activities of rural women through the lens of ‘household circular resource systems’ (HCRS) to demonstrate how the system generates and contributes to environmental sustainability and household resilience and survives in local resource circulation. This study used qualitative methods and collected data through 35 in-depth interviews, participant observation, and household activity mapping from 30 purposively selected rural households in six villages in Pabna and Sirajganj districts. The data were analysed thematically. The findings suggest that the cyclical use of food waste, water, and compostbased nutrients produces interrelated processes. These processes collectively contribute to environmental sustainability and household resilience through continuous resource regeneration, reduced household waste and expenses, and improved food security and water management. Moreover, the results show that the traditional HCRS is maintained through complex interactions among women’s productive family resources, intergenerational ecological knowledge, and unpaid domestic labour. Rural women also perceive the circular system as a culturally embedded family custom. However, the level of circularity varies with the number of family-owned animals and arable land. Changing rural lifestyles, marked by greater reliance on commercial agricultural products and less control over property and livestock, are slowly undermining traditional circular techniques. This study advances sustainability and circular economy scholarship by conceptualising HCRS as a localised socio-ecological framework. It suggests that sustainable rural development policies should include family adaptability by acknowledging regional environmental practices, encouraging small-scale animal production, and giving residents greater access to fertile land to foster sustainability and resilience in rural society.