Small observation on the throwaway society

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Small observation on the throwaway society

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jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 05 4:44 pm Post subject: Small observation on the throwaway society

With the cost of buying new so cheap these days it can be damn hard to be virtuous

I habitually reuse old computer pieces as I need to run a few computers, over the last couple of days I have been trying to build a Linux PC, as my current Linux PC is showing definite signs of flaking out (it is also an old PC) it has taken hours of cannibalising old machines to get (several installs of Linux later) something that seems to be stable. The job would not even have needed doing if the old machine was not itself a relic.

At the same time, I am getting adverts from Dell for a bare bones server PC for ï¿½99 + VAT/Delivery

Lozzie

Joined: 25 May 2005
Posts: 2595

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 05 6:15 pm Post subject:
Jema maybe you could construct your own Weee Man sculpture? I admire your patience, by the way. You must feel a bit like a salmon trying to swim upstream sometimes. I know I do ...

tahir

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 45676
Location: Essex

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 05 6:18 pm Post subject:
I do similarly silly things to keep old machines running.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 05 6:37 pm Post subject:

The frustating thing is, I have as usual a TODO list as long as my arm for what i should be writing using these machines, and instead I'm playing "scrapyard challenge".

Already I see I have a corrupt database on the machine I'm replacing, fortunately it is not an important one.

I am rationalising at the moment, that aside from piecing machines together I am getting some useful systems admin knowledge that will come in useful

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 8:17 am Post subject:
I must admit that when it comes to household goods I will use them to the point of destruction/osbsolesence and then replace when they breakdown. the cause may be small and repairable but I don't have the patience/skills/knowledge for this sort of stuff, the replacement costs with current technology is often the same as the repair. I do not replace for the sake of new technology/features etc.

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 8:32 am Post subject:

Behemoth wrote:

I must admit that when it comes to household goods I will use them to the point of destruction/osbsolesence and then replace when they breakdown. the cause may be small and repairable but I don't have the patience/skills/knowledge for this sort of stuff, the replacement costs with current technology is often the same as the repair. I do not replace for the sake of new technology/features etc.

I also kicked myself earlier this year, having spent an age trying to keep a dishwasher working, and finally giving up and buying a new one, to find its quick "eco" program" was far more effective than an intensive wash on the old one.
I guess we all need to do a "reality check" on when we are being sensible with "Reduce, Reuse, Recycle".

Behemoth

Joined: 01 Dec 2004
Posts: 19023
Location: Leeds

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 8:43 am Post subject:

That's a good point. If you have a good basic servicable washing machine or such appliance, car, tool or other machine with a good few years left in it and a new model/technology comes along that's more efficient, uses less energy and resources in its construction and operation. Is it better from an environmental point of view to ditch the old model immediately, ensuring that it's scrapped and recycled, or to work it to the end of its working life then replace?

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 12:49 pm Post subject: throwaway society
i find that the cost of having oseone out to repair an appliance is prohibitive to getting it repaired...you might as well just buy another one as spend the replacement cost on keeping an older one going...that really gets my goat.........it becomes almost planned obsolesence.........the appliances are made only to last 'x' amount of years......keeps hoover in business i guess

jema
Downsizer Moderator

Joined: 28 Oct 2004
Posts: 28239
Location: escaped from Swindon

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 12:55 pm Post subject: Re: throwaway society

Nanny wrote:

i find that the cost of having oseone out to repair an appliance is prohibitive to getting it repaired...you might as well just buy another one as spend the replacement cost on keeping an older one going...that really gets my goat.........it becomes almost planned obsolesence.........the appliances are made only to last 'x' amount of years......keeps hoover in business i guess

though we are trying to get away from the "might as well" approach and move towards choices that might be more difficult, but which are more ethical.

The trouble is that the system is so skewed you have to be really commited on this score. So for example in the last week I have wasted perfectly good shower parts, by getting a complete new shower rather than the replacement part needed.

halloween

Joined: 27 Jun 2005
Posts: 61
Location: Co. Galway, Ireland

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 12:58 pm Post subject:

Quote:

the appliances are made only to last 'x' amount of years......keeps hoover in business i guess

Especially true of Dyson! We have spoken to a number of small vacuum repair places who absolutely slate them. A year ago, we bought one of their 'specialist' Dyson DC07 animal cleaners to cope with our hairy German shepherd. We had to cut the clogged hair off the brush bar at least once a week, and then around 13 - 14 months after buying it, it started smelling and the motor burned out.

From talking to those in the repair places, they told us that Dysons were rubbish, made popular by garish colours and inconsequential gimmicks, like the 'ball'. I mean I want a vacuum that cleans, not one that banks round corners like a motorbike!

We have a Sebo X4 now and its fantastic!

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 1:07 pm Post subject:

true enough jema..............it is easier to buy a new one rather than go through the trauma of finding the parts, then finding the time to do the job etc.......

we try to repair things and mr nanny is pretty good with electrics etc but you do reach that "do i or don't i" stage pretty quickly when your wife can't get your uniform out of the washer and is breathing down your neck and you know you can go to bennetts and bring home a new one today in the back of the car for what seems like too reasonable a price to be real......................

tough call

Will

Joined: 30 Jun 2005
Posts: 571
Location: Grenoside, Sheffield

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 1:16 pm Post subject:

There's inevitably a trade off in these things. A car, for example, uses far more energy in its construction than over its lifetime - so theoretically keeping an old and reasonably efficient car going for a while will have a greater effect than buying a new Prius. I think cars may be a special case, though, as they are comparatively expensive items and comparatively few people can afford to buy them new anyway.

The question really hits with smaller consumer electronics, where there is a big difference between the cheap Far East labour and automation used to build them in the first place, and the expensive UK labour and manual input used to repair them.

I think the most important thing is to recognise that every action is a compromise of some sort, and we have to live within the resources we have available. Having an awareness of the consequences of our actions is far further than many consumers will ever get.

Will

Nanny

Joined: 17 Feb 2005
Posts: 4520
Location: carms in wales

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 05 1:37 pm Post subject: throwaway society

the whole thing is a a bit of a lottery isn't it?

you do the best you can and compromise your ideals all the time. in the case of washing machines, if i didnt work and had plenty of time to beat my clothes on a rock then the problem wouldn't arise at all but then i would probably worry about the ecological effects on rocks during the process of beating my clothes upon them...

someone has probably done a test/survey/study of this already so the figures are at hand

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