When planned obsolescence goes too far, the people of the Right to Repair want the right to…repair things. They aren’t fighting back with pitchforks and torches, but rather, screwdrivers and torch lights.
As a prepper, having supplies that last and are able to be repaired can only be a good thing. And part of the reasons it’s so difficult to reduce our consumerism is that everything just keeps breaking on us.
So, what do climate change regulations, so-called efficiency products, and planned obsolescence all have in common?
All three are crashing into each other and making everyone miserable and poorer.
What is planned obsolescence?
Planned obsolescence means the deliberate altering of a product to break down at a certain point (often right after the warranty is up) forcing the consumer to buy another. Another aspect of planned obsolescence is designing the product to prevent repair either by gluing parts together or using obscure parts and not allowing the sale of spare parts. In many cases, the products are too cheaply made to warrant money spent on repairs, so millions of products end up in the dump, making people wonder why they buy things in the first place.
Car manufacturers are notorious for planned obsolescence now. Older cars are now prized for their repairability and ease of getting spare parts. One of the most insidious examples of planned obsolescence is when Apple was caught deliberately slowing down older versions of its iPhones. Appliances and electronics are among the most infuriating culprits. “Fast fashion” is the clothing version of planned obsolescence.
Planned obsolescence has coincided with the climate change fever pitch and the fear of CO2 emissions. These two things have coincided with goods that are ostensibly manufactured to be energy “efficient.” As some folks are pointing out, however, it is anything but efficient to create more and more junk, then having it sit in landfills and break down into the environment.
How can you have environmentally friendly products that do nothing more than create waste? A senseless waste of resources. In 2017 alone, 525,000 tons of waste electronic and electrical waste were collected, just in the UK. And this waste only applies to household appliances. This is to say nothing of the labor involved to mine the resources and make these cheap goods.
More than that, people are just plain ticked off to have spent so much time and money on products that are purposely designed to break and engineered in a way that bans people from repairing them. It’s not that people don’t want to repair products. It’s that the product doesn’t allow for it – there are no available spare parts. And most frustrating of all, it can cost more to repair some products than to buy more.
Meet the Right to Repair movement.
The practice of planned obsolescence obviously benefits money hungry companies at the unfair expense of the customer.
People from the UK and the U.S. have spoken up about the inability to repair cheap goods.
The UK community repair movement is a worldwide group of “repair activists” that want others to stand with them to persuade designers, manufacturers, and government to make sure that products at least have the ability to be repaired.
They have released “The Manchester Declaration,” which says:
We are part of a growing movement pushing for our Right to Repair worldwide, alongside independent repair businesses and citizens frustrated with the early obsolescence of most of today’s products.
We ask UK legislators and decision-makers at all levels, as well as product manufacturers and designers, to stand with us for our Right to Repair, by making repair more accessible and affordable, and ensuring that we adopt product standards making products better supported, well documented and easier to repair by design. (source)
If you are interested in joining, find them over at the Restart Project.
What is the government’s role?
BBC reports that stopping the anti-repair practice consists of…
[…] a series of proposals from European environment ministers to force manufacturers to make goods that last longer and are easier to mend.
The European proposals refer to lighting, televisions and large home appliances.
At least 18 US states are considering similar laws in a growing backlash against products which can’t be prised apart because they’re glued together, or which don’t have a supply of spare parts, or repair instructions. (source)
Will all these bureaucracies and directives really bring about products that work? I have suspicions. The urgency behind climate change and Agenda 21/Agenda 2030 wants to see a world with less consumption, fewer resources, and fewer goods. Every day the media pushes a false narrative of scarcity.
It is more likely there will be crimps on many resources.
How will this plan move forward?
If you’re wondering how this will proceed, here’s a summary.
European environment ministers have a series of proposals forcing manufacturers to make goods that last longer and are easier to mend. The European proposals refer to lighting, televisions and large home appliances.
Plans for the EU Ecodesign Directive are complex and controversial. Manufacturers say the proposed rules on repairability are too strict and will stifle innovation.
Consumer campaigners complain the EU Commission has allowed firms to keep control of the repair process by insisting some products are mended by professionals under the control of manufacturers.
The European Environmental Bureau (EEB) said: “This restricts the access of independent repairers to spare parts and information – and that limits the scope and affordability of repair services.” The EEB also wants other products like smart phones and printers included in the legislation. (source)
Environment Minister Thérèse Coffey said that efficiency was “key to improving our productivity and making best use of precious resources”.
“That is why we are supporting measures in the new Ecodesign Directive product regulations to encourage repair and re-use of a range of products,” she told BBC News.
No, the Right to Repair movement will not stop planned obsolescence.
Like I said before, efficiency means using less energy and other resources, putting a strain on the consumer.
In the UK, the amount of power allowed for vacuum cleaner suction continues to be slashed. When you think of an “efficiency” toilet, remember it is anything but. When you have to flush two or three times, does that really help the environment?
The government is supporting all things that crimp energy usage and pretending that they’re doing you a favor. Kind of like those “eco-friendly” shower heads that give you that I-showered-but-it-looks-like-I-didn’t look.
More about being allowed to repair products:
There’s another debate about how readily consumers should be allowed to mend appliances. The Right to Repair movement wants products that can be fully disassembled and repaired with spare parts and advice supplied by the manufacturer.
Some manufacturers fear that bungling DIY repairers will damage the machines they’re trying to fix, and potentially render them dangerous.
One industry group, Digital Europe, said: “We understand the political ambition to integrate strict energy and resource efficiency aspects in Ecodesign, but we are concerned that some requirements are either unrealistic or provide no added value.
“The draft regulations limit market access, deviate from internationally-recognised best practices and compromise intellectual property.” (source)
Of course, the industries are acting ridiculous in suggesting that in order to protect propietary design, they need to design garbage goods.
Still, the Right to Repair movement is only asking for a little breadcrumb from the table. It will not stop planned obsolescence and neither will the government.
What’s cool about them is that they are organized, have a cohesive voice, and one clear demand. So more power to that!
This is what real eco-design looks like
So, what does real “eco-design” look like?
It means that a product can last forever and become something else instead of toxic waste that simply gets repurposed.
One author leading the way for “cradle to cradle” design is William McDonough who wrote, Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things and The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability–Designing for Abundance.
Even products and things that are touted as “eco-friendly” are anything but friendly. For instance, putting people in third-world countries into homes made from plastic garbage should be a disgrace. It doesn’t give people a safe home and it doesn’t solve the problem of plastic waste. Nor does a baby rattle made from recycled plastic which contains endocrine-disrupting phthalates. Rotating non-biodegradable waste will not get rid of the main problem: that we’ve created toxic products that have no outlet.
McDonough argues that we can change all that if we design a product that will always have a new life (become reborn) and never have a reason to be eradicated. Check out his TED talk on YouTube.
I don’t agree with everything he says, but at least he’s not anti-commerce, anti-earth, and he doesn’t buy the “everyone must sacrifice” lines blaring out from behind the Agenda 21 curtain.
What do you think of this news?
Are you going to join the Right to Repair efforts? How do you personally fight planned obsolescence? Let us know in the comments below!
passing laws to make this happen are sure to just prop up the monopoly corporations that practice this, shutting out their competiition. as always. the way to fight this is to not opt in, if you can.
i buy most of the things i need on ebay. used. if i have to buy something new, i will opt for the more expensive item, made in the usa or other country that values it’s citizens labor.
it is strange being in my fifties and seeing the degeneration of the manufacturing standards that we took for granted as kids. things used to last. now they don’t. i spend quite a bit of my time repairing things that i have or that other people have thrown out just because i know that if i buy a new one, it will break in short order. i drive a 35 year old truck.
also, watch the movie “the light bulb conspiracy” if its still on the evil google youtube thingee. it’s all about this…….
This strategy is also being attempted by the politicians that are against our God given right to own firearms. The ” 3D firearms ban”(or whatever they are calling it) HR7115 supposedly is to prevent people from making their own firearms. But, if it should pass, will ban the sale if “parts” even to licenced gunsmiths and Federal Firearms Licence holders. They know if they get it passed that eventually parts break or wear out, and thus they attain a form of “back door” gun control.
There is some progress in this game, even if it’s not any kind of total answer. See these two recent articles:
Now you can get your smartphones, voice assistant devices, home appliances and systems fixed by third-party vendors, 26 Oct 2018
https://www.cnet.com/news/copyright-office-rules-in-favor-of-your-right-to-repair-your-own-phone/
and
45 Out of 50 Electronics Companies Illegally Void Warranties After Independent Repair, Sting Operation Finds, 11 Oct 2018
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/9k7mby/45-out-of-50-electronics-companies-illegally-void-warranties-after-independent-repair-sting-operation-finds
–Lewis
“Now you can get your smartphones, voice assistant devices, home appliances and systems…”
I do not have any of those things, and am currently fighting with my phone company because they want to do away with my landline. Amazingly now the “phone line is broken” and they do not want to fix it but instead I should go get a “smart”phone [want to know why they called it a smartphone, so that dumbed down people would buy into their lies – my opinion, but based on a lot of facts].
I personally refuse to pay for things that assist those traitors who serve within our American government track us as if we were chipped. Think they are not traitors and working to change our constitutional republic from the inside {and no, I am not saying all are knowingly doing this – refer to the dumbed down comment above]. Think you are not chipped if you have one of those phones? Not seen that people have them everywhere, some even sleep with them, or keep them very close to the bed, drive with them, go out to dinner and stay the whole time on their phones.
Anyone think that might be that little signal sent to the phone every so many times a minute that pulses your pleasure center of your brain? It is your choice to be addicted to those things or to stop them.
One of the big barriers to repairable products is that so much is made by robots today. Often the robot-made assembly costs less than the individual parts that make up the assembly. Secondly there’s the problem of shipping individual parts, stocking them and so forth. Then there’s also design considerations.
For example, I was dismayed to find that a complete extension cord, designed to be molded in one piece by machine, costs less than just one plug to repair an extension cord where one plug broke. A similar situation exists for many electronic components.
Another problem is including unique parts where unique parts are not needed. I repaired an older clothes washer once where, by making a slight adjustment of the motor position I was able to use a generic fan belt from an auto supply store.
Manufacturers usually don’t release specifications of out-of-production products. Even plastic parts can often be replaced by someone who has access to a 3D printer. If needed to be machined from metal, if the specifications are available, someone with a machine shop could make a part, instead of having to junk a whole assembly.
Concerning the gun issue, there are designs available on line to make fully automatic machine guns using common materials found in building supply stores, using simple tools like a drill press, vise and hacksaw. Weapons made from these plans are turning up in the hands of criminals in places with ridiculous gun-control laws like Australia. One doesn’t need to buy any gun specific parts to make a firearm.
So frustrated with planned obsolescence! Had a food processor that I loved and was used often over several years. The safety mechanism on the handle broke which rendered the unit inoperable. I thought the quick fix was to simply order a replacement bowl – but it’s no longer available. Not from any 3rd party dealer or from the manufacturer itself. So I have a “like new” food processor with lots of accessories that is completely useless (and it seems this is a very common problem with this model according to my research).
So I’ve been sitting here pondering what to do with it (after I begrudgingly bought a replacement from another company). Do I: 1. Throw it away accessories and all and be done with it. 2. Donate it somewhere with a note that it’s really not useful without a replacement bowl that has been impossible to find. 3. Keep the accessories and possibly the unit in a corner of the garage to maybe be able to do something with the pieces when SHTF but grumble everytime I see it about planned obsolescence? Thoughts?
Caveat emptor – let the buyer beware indeed!
sell it on ebay. you might have found the part there…..
you’d be surprised……
Many items are readily repaired. Putting a new spool of trimmer line on a weed wacker isn’t even a repair, it’s the equivalent of replacing a roll of toilet paper (toilet doesn’t truly work without it). When you buy something, save the documentation that comes with it. That paperwork will solve 9 out of 10 problems. Save your sales receipt for warranty repairs.
Yes you will find screwheads that look designed to keep you from taking something apart, but those screwdrivers are available, you just have to know where to look. Buy once, repair again.
I live in a METRO area with over 2 million people. There are lots of surplus & spare parts shops. I’ve been fixing things since I was 8 years old, mostly it’s whether you choose to bother or not.
Having seen many pictures and videos of what passes for fashion over many years, I thought the I-showered-but-it-looks-like-I-didn’t look was some kind of fashion statement. I thought I was on the forefront of haute couture.
In my family we have a saying: Everybody needs a Bubba”. You’ve probably known this guy, especially if you live in the country. He has a shed full of “parts” for everything, always has a screwdriver in his pocket and hopefully, has an understanding wife. He probably has the part you need and if not, knows how to make something that will replace it. You have to be patient with Bubbas, they’re often slow moving & don’t respond well to being rushed. They are, however, one of the most important people in your circle, especially when SHTF.
I used to be married to Bubba! What a treat. Really!
When the Northern CA earthquake happened in 1989 we cleared a foot of glass off the kitchen floor, fired up the Coleman stove and lantern and invited the neighbors over for spaghetti.
Unfortunately when his parts broke he couldn’t fix them. People are the ultimate in planned obsolescence but last a while when well maintained.
>Some manufacturers fear that bungling DIY repairers will damage the machines they’re trying to fix, and potentially render them dangerous.
Whatever happened to “if you break it, you own both pieces?” How does it fall back on them if you bungle a repair attempt?
I am using a “Toastmaster” toaster that was probably made in the 40s or 50s. It still works just fine except the slots are narrow and only work for regular slices of bread; it’s no good for bagels or anything else that’s thick. I have fixed it a couple of times over the years. It’s held together by machine screws and is mainly made of heavy metal.
I also have a Pilot stapler that was made in the 40s or 50s. It’s very heavy and is held together with machine screws. I still use it almost every day.
These items, along with my 3/8″ high-speed hand drill and numerous other hand tools, I won’t ever part with.
Strangely enough I have shown these to younger men and they ALL appear to look at them in envy.
An article on “How to create a repair movement “https://opencollaboration.wordpress.com/2021/01/21/how-to-create-a-repair-movement/