Dan Jackson: We fix nothing ... just buy more

Dan Jackson

KIDS hate my job. Not what I actually do - which is recycling which they think is cool in a "save the planet" kind of way.

No, they hate how I do it. I'll be chopping up an old lawn mower or maybe crushing a bike and they'll say: "Stop - can't you fix that? We could do it up and sell it."

My 11-year-old looks at me with disgust when I tell him all the cool old cars that have gone through my scrap baler over the years.

They all think I'm a meanie. I try to tell them the things are broken and not worth anything but they never believe me.

The thing with kids is, they see value where we see rubbish. And, often times, they are right.

The truth is I could fix a lot of what comes through my work, and once upon a time, in earlier days, I would have.

But not now. No one really fixes much anymore.

Fridges, TVs and the like are not worth repairing as it's cheaper to get a new one.
They are so worthless, in fact, that if people bring them to my yard I turn them away as whiteware isn't even worth crushing now. Cars even have a limited life.

Old cars might be cool but not much from the late 1980s or early 90s gets fixed nowadays. It just gets crushed.

We try to save things at the yard. We keep old gear running and we fix things that have a value to us - ask my dad about old tractors and make a cup of tea while you hear the reply.

We've sent odds and sods into museums and collections all around the country.
But, by far and away, the majority of what we do is cut up and crush things other people don't fix. How did we, as a society, get like this?

How can it be economic for a tiny country at the bottom of the world to import everything and virtually fix nothing?

Little kids see the value in fixing things, making things and doing things. But, it doesn't take long and they lose that inspiration. They soon just want new things that they can throw away when broken.

True recycling is making something last a long time. To me, there's no shame in having an older car or a second hand washing machine.

What's worse is we are losing the ability to fix things. Most people who know how to fix things are nearing retirement.

What will we do when they're gone and we are entirely dependent on importing everything? The unrecyclable material will probably fill our landfills and poison our land and waterways.

■Dan Jackson is a Whanganui journalist and part-time scrap metal dealer