Consumerism, the environment and the economy

nearlynew

Well done graham.

The fact that you have linked "consumerism, the environment and the economy" shows that you are thinking about things.


What is pathetic is that the most of the replies you have had to this thread have amounted to nothing more than "my washing machine is harder than yours"

olly300

You guys are weird. I didn't vote by the way because none of the options fitted.

You have a personal choice. You can choose to buy stuff that breaks easily, or you can look around and try and buy stuff that doesn't break. Unless you are friendless you will know people personally who can tell you how certain manufacturers stuff lasts.

BTW I live in a hard water area and my kettle is 4 years old. The thing I learnt is if you live in a hard water area make sure the products you buy can be descaled with ease.

And with printers it's sometimes cheaper buying a printer that costs £20 more because you can use refill inks and replica cartridges.

Sapphire

Definitely old style for me, and preferably made in Britain, and if not in other parts of Europe. I want to buy as little stuff from China as possible, given how terribly they are polluting the environment – I actively avoid it whenever I can.

Also would like to see goods with 'Made in England' written on them again. I mean, Britain used to be known for the quality of its manufactured goods.

I also tend to never buy new furniture, and not just because I like the idea of recycling. Much of the old stuff is so much better made and more interesting than the throwaway rubbish in shops, including expensive goods, and looks much nicer (there is a massive choice, too).

With regard to kettles, I live in a hard-water area, so use softened water in the kettle, which prevents scale from building up at all. However, the refill cartridges are made of plastic and have to be changed every month or so. Not good, since they are not recyclable.

I always give away stuff like clothes once I no longer need it, rather than throwing it away.

My mobile is about seven years old (a quite smart little Samsung). I see no need whatsoever to replace it. Can't be bothered (and don't have time) to clutter up my life with useless gimmicks that I don't need.

Pobby

I have been in the same industry nearly 40 odd years. Mainly American made products. They were first class. Some of the stuff that was made is still going decades later. Sadly the shift has been to China and some of the rubbish, cheap yes, coming from there is amazingly bad.

I remember in the 70`s when the Japanese came into our market, cheap but quickly became good. Off to Korea for the real cheapo stuff, now very good at what they produce. China will catch up in quality and prices will rise also.

lostinrates

choille wrote: »

.....
Land fill is stacked with peoples' chuck outs - it's ridiculous really.......

Our local tip has been rebranded as ar ecycling centre. We still take rubbish there, but it has to be separated, and anything with use in it.....furniture, toys, elctrical goods...is kept to one side, and can be bought. I don't know what they do with stuff not bought by public/people coming in? I will find out.


The interesting thing is that the [STRIKE]tip[/STRIKE] recyling centre is open every day bar Christmas day. Every day of the year, and yet we have had a dramatic in crease in fly tipping in the local area......the only thing I can conclude is that people don't want to sort their rubbish.

The centre is VERY well staffed, the fewest workers I have seen there is 4, and although the [STRIKE]tip[/STRIKE] recycling centre serves a wide local area it is rural and not over busy. The staff are very aggressive about trying to fine people (when I have checked the fines are not with foundation, and interestingly are payable in cash) and while very helpful when asked it seems a major part of their job is in tea recycling. It seems to me a service of being abe to dump a car load of rubbish for them to sort for a small extra fee might be a go-er...as they have the time. I used take a load in from our village very often, fornightly,...(for which they tried to fine me...) and now I use the LA reporting rubbish service instead: which of course is a drain on the tax payer, and an extra cost.

We have a good system with the reclycling centre, and I think for no extra cost it could be an excellent one.

kabayiri

mbga9pgf wrote: »

...
Only exception to this is audio/visual, I cringe when I see some of the crap pushed out by the big high street supermarkets. Yes, Bose or Sony cost an arm and a leg, but kept in a smoke-free home, will outlive the owners. We bought top of the range when we got our TV and furniture and are laughing now as we reckon we have saved a fortune in the long run. Although again, you have to be careful. Some of Bose's recent stuff is starting to err on the consumerist throwaway, which is a concern. Their Ipod dound docks arent particularly solid either.
......
I have to be honest, I buy cheap PCs. Although I have my own dell precision for work purposes (2k new, bought for 400 quid off ebay 1 year old ), as I was getting through 2 laptops a year when I bought cheap n nasty. This one feels solid. I always buy at optimum performance vs price, never pay for cutting edge. I used to, then found out you end up as a case study for manufacturers design teams, as cutting edge doesnt equate to reliability imho. (Especially Cars, I NEVER buy a 1st Gen new design). Parts once a PC break go on ebay, you find your typical laptop is worth 50% of its residual value by selling screen/Processor/battery/keyboard/memory and electric adapter. You just need to be gentle taking it apart.

Bose used to (and still do) use undoped paper drivers in their speakers. I know, I owned some. That is criminal penny pinching, the drivers will just perish given time.

PC wise, Dell are a funny company. You try ringing them up for a motherboard replacement quote. It will be between 300 and 400 pounds. This is a deliberate policy, in that they want to fit them, but it does encourage early disposal.

We could take individual items and go through them ad nauseum. But, I doubt individuals will ever vote for things going back towards the old values. We want the cheapest now, and length of serviceable life is way down the list.

If we heavily taxed disposal in some way, that might change, and we'd be greener as a result.

But how do you do it? I really don't know.

kabayiri

I personally would love it if more electrical and quality goods were made in the UK. I'd pay premium for quality. Most of my hifi is English design and build.

But....we have seriously undermined the engineering and design skills needed. I did a combination of electronics and robotics at Uni some time ago, and my 18 year old nephew thinks I was mad! Why didn't I choose accountancy, or law, or something in the creative areas, he suggested. He is one of those who doesnt think we make things anymore.

treliac

olly300 wrote: »

BTW I live in a hard water area and my kettle is 4 years old. The thing I learnt is if you live in a hard water area make sure the products you buy can be descaled with ease.

I live in a very hard water area and my kettle is yonks old. My secret is to use only filtered water in it ...... better for you and nicer too.

lostinrates

treliac wrote: »

I live in a very hard water area and my kettle is yonks old. My secret is to use only filtered water in it ...... better for you and nicer too.

Yes, I've moved a lot but, when in UK, have been in hard water areas...with my two kettles.

stonethrower

mbga9pgf wrote: »

Consumerism is the curse, not necessarily new technology. The printer thing really grips my sh*t though, so much so I dont use them any more unless I absolutely have to (written/signed for stuff and letters of complaint).

I find people are far less likely to look after stuff these days. Cases in point?

Washing machines/dryers. Many have little, cheap button thermostats that pop out if you DONT LOOK AFTER IT.... if you are one of those people that stop a dryer half way through a cycle, dont be surprised when it starts to blow cold air and you get error lights. Reason? The cycle needs to cool down the elements, otherwise they overheat and the emergency (non-resettable) thermostat pops, resulty being a costly visit from servicing, to the tune of 90-120 quid. you can buy the parts online, but again, people are "scared" of touching and repairing items of electrical equipment in these crazy days of consumerism/elf and safety. Much easier to put it on the plastic and get a new one! (Idiots....)

Kettles. For those whineing about hard water and failed kettles, why not boil a 50/50 mix of water and cheap supermarket brand vinegar. get it up to boiling with the lid off, keep an eye on it, dont let it overboil and hey, presto, in 5 minutes you have a lovely clean kettle again!

Hoovers. Dont buy anything other than Dyson. Dyson is a man you can tell believes in initial outlay cost and ease of repair. Springs,plastic bits, nozzles, pipes all easy to replace. yet you see so many on the skip!

Food mixers. Many people get cheap crappy ones. I bought a Kenwood chef with metal bowl off ebay (20 years old), with worn out motor bushes and bearings. cost 20 quid to repair. Good as new!

TVs. DONT touch the buttons! That is what a remote is for! Keep crap off the air vents and dust weekly!

Cars - I still like older cars, as they are easy to DIY than the newer "sealed unit" style we seem to have adopted recently in design. Even still, a new car should have an oil change on time, at least every 7000 miles for petrol (easy to DIY) 5000 for diesel, shouldnt be ragged for the first 10 mins of driving and should be left for 30 seconds after you stop your drive to alow the turbo to wind down. Turbos spinning at 100 THOUSAND rpm DONT LIKE the oil in their bearings without a fresh supply. Another quick way to knacker your turbo. and shouldnt be driven up kirbs - result? a car that will last 150K! Oh, do your cambelt on time, and get your tracking LASER aligned every 50K - much steering rack and steering component wear is caused by crappy tracking done on tyre changes. Always use decent tyres and parts and you wont go wrong. Clutches should last the life of the car, so dont rest the car on the clutch for hill starts when you have a hand brake! Do air filter changes regularly and you wont get sand and crap wearing out your bearings. Think this is over the top? You should see how we look after aero engines! Oil changes every 100 hours!

Oh, I NEVER bother with extended warranties, which are financially equivalent to setting fire to money. Dont believe me? Google bathtub curve. If it doesnt break in the first year of warranty, it probably wont, until it reaches the end of its life.

In short, look after stuff and it will last years!

While I agree with most of what you say I have to disagree with a dyson hoover I got 1 for my mum ant it was the most over priced (hyped) piece of rubbish. She changed it for a good old henry hoover has it 5 years now and no problems