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Before you buy ask these questions:
1. Do I really need it?
2. Do I already have one, and can I fix, upgrade or modify it to fit my needs?
3. Do I know someone who has one they aren't using?
4. If I don't need to use it every day, could I share one with other people?
5. Can I find it in the trash somewhere?
6. Can I buy a used or refurbished product?
7. If I must buy a new one, can I buy a product that is made of recycled materials, made locally with minimal packaging? Is the new product designed to last and so it can be repaired?
The biggest savings, in terms of environmental impact, occur higher up on this list. But, due to the way that our economy has developed, it is hard to find places that do repairs. I recently experienced this when I tried to get an old lamp repaired. It was hard to find a person with the skills to fix the lamp. The cost of fixing the lamp was similar to the cost of buying a new, but lower quality, lamp. Perverse economic pressures, made making the choice with the lowest environmental impact, both annoying and overly costly. It's not surprising that most people just throw things away and buy new.
I did, eventually, find a repairman who fixed the lamp in just a few minutes. (I was delighted, and it really was just a satisfying as getting a brand new lamp.) Too often, however, environmental concerns clash with our economic interests. Furthermore, the common "wisdom" is that reducing consumption leads to economic contraction. I think this is short-sighted. Growth in the economic sector of local repair, and reuse industries can give us the best of both worlds, job creation (locally, rather than overseas) and reduced environmental impact. We could have a much more robust "repair economy," and the benefits from growth in this area could address environmental concerns, job loss and other important economic problems. Many people have talked about growing "green technologies," and that's related to this idea, but when I'm proposing is much more simple. I'm talking about simply fixing things and getting more out of the stuff that we already have.
I've tried to implement this idea whenever I can. For example, when I discovered that one could get old shoes resoled, I stopped buying new ones, I just get the soles replaced when they wear out. It costs about the same as buying a new cheap pair of shoes, but I'd rather spend my money at a local store where they do work on site then be responsible for importing more plastic crap from companies that probably don't even pay a living wage. I know this sounds very simple, but for a lot of people in my generation, the "repair economy" is something that we've had to rediscover. Often I find the local shops that do repairs are in a state of decline. They are starved for business and unable to compete with inexpensive imports. It makes me wonder:
1. How do policies that relate to trade, imports and exports help or hinder the "repair economy?"
2. Is there any way to encourage growth in this sector?
3. Is it possible to restructure the economy so that it is less dependent on wasteful consumption without causing economic contraction, job loss reduced quality of life?
4. Could tax credits help these kinds of businesses?
Perhaps, it might it make more sense to avoid government remedies and instead work on changing social norms about "newness." For example: many people feel it is unacceptable to give a gift that they did not purchase new. This idea helps drive Christmas sales which are very important to the economy. Perhaps we can address this issue by change the way people think about "new stuff." I've been working on switching my family over to giving used gifts on holidays and birthdays. And do you know what? I've found that people like the used gifts more.
Too often when I bring up these ideas, people will say that I'm opposed to economic growth. Our ideas about how economic growth should look are very limiting. There is a lot of wasted stuff in our country and it is like a resource just waiting to be mined. Think of all of the fun, useful and even necessary goods that could be reclaimed if more items were repaired and reused! But, when people
