It drives me mad that we're encouraged to buy new rather than re-use or fix our old stuff. Retailers often price things so it works out cheaper to buy a new item rather than a refill - plugin air freshners are a classic example. It's almost always cheaper to buy a whole new unit with fragrance than it is to just buy a refill.
But perhaps we should think about the other costs before we simply chuck things out and buy new.
Many electrical and technological items contain precious metals and other substances which are dangerous and expensive to source. Lots contain harmful chemicals such as lead and mercury which can damage the environment when disposed of.
And what of CFCs? Most fridge freezers manufactured pre 2000 contain these harmful ozone depleting substances in their insualting material.
In Britain, aproximately 3 million fridges each year are disposed of and replaced with new.
So next time you're thinking of upgrading or you're faced with the dilemma of fix fridge / buy new one why not think of the alternatives and the implications.
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i so agree with you. i try wherever possible to reuse and recycle - but the real challenge of being an environmentalist is to try to limit the amount of things coming into your house - this plays into what you're saying above; just as we should be able to purchase refills rather than whole new product, we also need to be mindful of all the packaging that comes along with items. great blog!
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