Kate Hall explains why ‘planned obsolescence’ is a problem worth fixing. Photo / Getty
Kate Hall explains why ‘planned obsolescence’ is a problem worth fixing. Photo / Getty
Sustainability expert Kate Hall explains what ‘planned obsolescence’ is and why you need to avoid purchasing these types of household goods.
Despite some small groups of people who managed to repurpose bits and bobs from the piles of flood-damaged household items during the recent floods around Aotearoa, the vast majorityof damaged goods went to landfill.
It didn’t go there because of lack of care from the households affected by the floods. Some of the people who care the most about the environment also had piles of flood-damaged items outside their homes for landfill collection. It went to landfill because of two main things: planned obsolescence and health hazards.
Planned obsolescence is a technique used in production that ensures the item doesn’t last long, so consumers are forced to buy a new product. Companies utilising this sneaky technique to make money will use cheaper materials and design items to give way with certain weights or become irreparable in particular conditions (e.g. contact with water). I’ve heard the same story over and over again. “My old furniture is fine, but my new cheap bookshelves swelled up like a sponge and can’t be fixed.” Those items designed with planned obsolescence were destined to end up in landfill and the floods simply accelerated this journey.
Of course there’s a certain amount of damage you can never avoid in a flood, no matter how well a company has designed an item to last. But if sustainable values are incorporated into the conceptual and design stages of production, items are more likely to withstand events like flooding.
Moving on from planned obsolescence to health hazards, some items had to go to landfill because of the risk of mould. Even though I had to hold back slight rage when watching a video of my friend’s street completely littered with old couches and mouldy mattresses, unfortunately there was little to be done. Health professionals advise that items that cannot be cleaned and dried completely within 24 to 48 hours of floods, must be discarded. Mould concerns are serious and it would not be sustainable to end up in hospital because of trying to rescue a mattress from landfill.
Going forward, we can all try our best to put more thought into the items coming into our home, shop second-hand (sometimes the older the item, the more sturdy!) and repair where possible.
