Break The Cycle

A few months ago our multifunctional printer stopped working, a week after the warranty period ran out. Could not believe our luck. After getting over it we called the company who are a highly recognised worldwide brand to find out about our repair options.

The best they could do was offer us a replacement (same model) at a higher price than what a newer model would cost us to buy. I kid you not! Their strategy was to make us buy the newer model as to do other wise would be financially ludicrous. When we asked them what we should do with the old printer (which was virtually still brand new) they said we should throw it in the garbage. They would not pick it up to repair it or use it for spare parts. This could have been a replacement for other customers with the same model. This episode really opened our eyes to the negative externalities associated with the end of a product's life cycle.
This scenario showed us that products were designed in such a way, not to last too long or to be superseded by something 'better' to ensure that companies could continue to turnover sales no matter what the cost to the environment. It seems the norm that products have a shorter lifespan and are thrown into landfill at the end of their life without batting an eyelid.

However, regardless of the status quo, we made it our mission to recycle wherever possible and to reuse items in ways that ensured they would not end up in landfill. Simple things such as using both sides of paper to write or print, using bottles for storage instead of buying storage bottles and containers and using a worm farm to eradicate throwing vegetable waste into the garbage to name a few. These things may seem pedantic but we have found that we:

• buy paper less often; 
• don't need to buy bottles to store ingredients like spices,pulses, etc;
• cut down on our wastage and can use the bi-products from the worm farm to cut down on purchasing gardening fertilisers, etc. The worm tea is fantastic for the garden.

It is true that our economies are driven by consumerism with our retail sector most reliant on us buying new products. Though I have held the view that when there is a global slow down as the one currently unfolding there would be a trend where consumers would choose to buy second hand or swap items they no longer needed for items they did need. There was a news program on television recently @ www.abc.net.au/7.30/content/2011/s3332280.htm that confirmed the view I hold. As the economic conditions worsen there is a shift where consumers are opting to be more frugal and shop smarter. That is to buy online, source second hand goods, etc. This will have a positive impact on your wallet and the environment.