I mean, I at least try to fix things before throwing them out (although my success rate is probably less than 50%), but not everyone has the time, knowledge, or tools to even try. Plus, some things are just unfixable.
Then there are things like the $2 plastic tchotchke that you bought because you needed it once for a specific purpose and never needed it again. How much time and effort are you going to spend hunting down someone to give it to? The real problem here is an economic one: in cases where the item was bought for $200 and we might get $100 back, many people will make the effort, but not for $2. So maybe we should concentrate on making the cheap tchotchkes out of biodegradable materials, so that they do less harm when they’re inevitably discarded, 'cause people aren’t going to buy fewer of them.
I’d much rather see the $2 tchotchkes eliminated entirely.
Need a one-off item? Borrow it. Until COVID screwed things up, our neighbourhood had a thriving tool library. We need more things like this in the world. The “right to repair” legislation is a small step in the right direction as well.
We need to erase the idea of “disposable” from our collective consciousness. Things should be designed for extended use, and disposed of (ideally through recycling) only when they cannot be repaired or maintained.
You can’t completely eliminate the $2 tchotchkes. It can’t and won’t happen. First, because buying durable items is expensive in the short term even if it saves money in the long term (you can buy cheaper on the used market, but it has limited capacity: each item must have been purchased new by someone and then not used until it wore out). Not everyone can afford to lay out $100 to save $10 over the next five years, as an alternative to spending only $10 right now and buying a new whatzit in six months. Second, there are items you really do only need once, like favours for a kid’s birthday party (actually, kid stuff in general, if you’re only having one kid). Third, there are things that need to be strictly sterile when used (although those tend to cost more than $2), and disposable is several orders of magnitude easier to sterilize than reusable. We can push for products made of things like cast recycled paper pulp or biodegradable plastic where that’s an option, but getting rid of all disposable products would seriously impact standards of living and expected lifespans worldwide.
You need a minimum population density for something like a tool library (or a Makerspace, which will typically have tools on hand) to work well. Say, 10 000 people within an hour’s round trip? My hometown couldn’t have mustered that. It’s an effective solution in some places, but not everywhere. Likewise neighbourhood garage sales or swap meets or other places where people can swap tchotchkes they no longer need for other things they like better.
To put it another way: This isn’t an ideal world. The majority of people had rather shoot themselves in the foot than consume less, even when they can afford to. Practical solutions need to take human selfishness into account.
I mean, I at least try to fix things before throwing them out (although my success rate is probably less than 50%), but not everyone has the time, knowledge, or tools to even try. Plus, some things are just unfixable.
Then there are things like the $2 plastic tchotchke that you bought because you needed it once for a specific purpose and never needed it again. How much time and effort are you going to spend hunting down someone to give it to? The real problem here is an economic one: in cases where the item was bought for $200 and we might get $100 back, many people will make the effort, but not for $2. So maybe we should concentrate on making the cheap tchotchkes out of biodegradable materials, so that they do less harm when they’re inevitably discarded, 'cause people aren’t going to buy fewer of them.
I’d much rather see the $2 tchotchkes eliminated entirely.
Need a one-off item? Borrow it. Until COVID screwed things up, our neighbourhood had a thriving tool library. We need more things like this in the world. The “right to repair” legislation is a small step in the right direction as well.
We need to erase the idea of “disposable” from our collective consciousness. Things should be designed for extended use, and disposed of (ideally through recycling) only when they cannot be repaired or maintained.
You can’t completely eliminate the $2 tchotchkes. It can’t and won’t happen. First, because buying durable items is expensive in the short term even if it saves money in the long term (you can buy cheaper on the used market, but it has limited capacity: each item must have been purchased new by someone and then not used until it wore out). Not everyone can afford to lay out $100 to save $10 over the next five years, as an alternative to spending only $10 right now and buying a new whatzit in six months. Second, there are items you really do only need once, like favours for a kid’s birthday party (actually, kid stuff in general, if you’re only having one kid). Third, there are things that need to be strictly sterile when used (although those tend to cost more than $2), and disposable is several orders of magnitude easier to sterilize than reusable. We can push for products made of things like cast recycled paper pulp or biodegradable plastic where that’s an option, but getting rid of all disposable products would seriously impact standards of living and expected lifespans worldwide.
You need a minimum population density for something like a tool library (or a Makerspace, which will typically have tools on hand) to work well. Say, 10 000 people within an hour’s round trip? My hometown couldn’t have mustered that. It’s an effective solution in some places, but not everywhere. Likewise neighbourhood garage sales or swap meets or other places where people can swap tchotchkes they no longer need for other things they like better.
To put it another way: This isn’t an ideal world. The majority of people had rather shoot themselves in the foot than consume less, even when they can afford to. Practical solutions need to take human selfishness into account.