Our microwave is broken. It’s only about 18 months old & no longer under warranty but the keypad no longer works. We don’t use the microwave very often for cooking so it’s not a big deal in that regard. Unfortunately, the microwave doubles as the exhaust fan over the range and that kind of is a big deal as we cook 3 meals a day at home.
All of that aside, we’re renters, and as thus it’s our duty to report all non-working appliances to the landlord. The repair men came, took one look and decided it needed a new board and that it was just easier to replace the entire microwave.
I did some research. I could get all of the parts for the microwave, which is like a really simple computer, and install for about $100 and an hour of time, with the added cost of the repairmen doing it we’re talking about $200 total. Or the landlord can pay $200 for a new microwave and let this one sit in a landfill for a very long time.
The landlord opted to have a new microwave installed.
…and it got me thinking…
Our society has been conditioned to want new & exciting. We’ve become willing to sacrifice quality for ease and a cheap price. The view that everything is disposable is our new normal.
Think about it, we (the collective we, not necessarily me or you) trash our perfectly usable mini-computer cell phones for brand new ones, often signing up for long-term contracts and payment arrangements to do so.
Clothing, too, has become so cheaply made that we’ve reached a point where jeans aren’t expected to last more than a season and “growing out of something” usually happens well after the item has been worn out. I’ve noticed this especially with children’s shoes, even the expensive brands, they just wear out faster than they did 17 years ago when I was shoeing my oldest child.
Computers were once designed to be upgradable and repairable, and yes they were expensive, but they were workhorses that would last 8 or 9 years (I know, I still have one!) Today computers are much cheaper, but now most are designed to be replaced after only 2 or 3 years. Back in the day a computer repair shop was on every corner, today it’ll cost you a hundred bucks to have a tech say “Your computer is 3 years old, you should just get a new one.”
Where does the computer end up? In the same place as my microwave.
This disturbing trend isn’t just about stuff, it happens with people and animals too.
I dare you to walk into any animal shelter and look at the cards of the homeless animals. The shelters are overrun with unwanted animals. That cute puppy someone just had to have got sick and the owner didn’t want to pay the vet bills. The adorable kitten that was purchased at the pet store got pregnant because the owner neglected to have her spayed, and now she and 5 other cats are homeless. The iguana your child begged for outgrew his cage and became territorial so he was given up.
Ya know what? Animals chew things, they pee on the floor, they grow out of their cuteness, they get pregnant. We’re living in a society that thinks it’s ok to abandon them because they’ve interrupted our sense of ease and they aren’t new anymore.
And people? Let me tell you this: I used to work in the home healthcare field providing basic care and housekeeping for the elderly. I was the person who sat with your mother, who has Alzheimer’s Disease, so you could get your hair cut. I was the person who drove your grandfather to the pharmacy so he could get his medication. I was the person who changed your mother’s sheets when they were soiled and made sure none of the food in her fridge was spoiled.
One case in particular still haunts me. There are some visions I cannot get out of my head, and while I cannot get into details, I am still heartbroken over what this elderly woman had to live through because everyone else forgot about her.
I am taking a stand here and now. I will no longer be part of this throwaway culture.
As of today I strive to repair, donate, or recycle before I replace.
I will “make do” more and replace less.
I will seek out used items before purchasing new.
I will find a happy medium between my desire for style and my commitment to waste less.
To the best of my ability I will buy quality over convenience, even if it means I don’t make a purchase at all.
I renew my commitment to treat people and animals as living beings, and not things.
For more information on what to do with those used or broken items:
Repair Clinic has thousands of parts available for all sorts of household appliances
iFixit is a large community of people who know how to repair just about everything
The Thrift Shopper is a nationwide directory of thrift stores
Upcycle That has ideas, large and small, for reusing items that are no longer being used
The Freecycle Network is a local volunteer organization that matches your unwanted/broken items with people who need them and can repair them.
Ok you are a girl after my own heart! I could have wrote this blog entry because that is me to a T. Anything that doesn’t get used anymore, goes to our local Habitat for Humanity Restore. When I needed(wanted) a new desk….had one of those awful glass top big ugly things….I found a roll top desk at a resale store that had been painted and distressed. I use my 3rd bedroom as our office, music room, treadmill spot and I made a whole new looking room. Donated the glass desk to my brother who needed a desk. Paid $100 for my used roll top and the make over just came to me one day. The closet is a double French door style closet. Not a walk in but a decent size. I removed the doors and put them in attic, I removed the closet shelves and put them in attic and got a gallon of paint and hubs repainted the closet. My house and decor is very contemporary and the desk is traditional so I had to funkify it. I took a class in painting with the Annie Sloan chalk paint which you can paint over any finish without stripping the furniture…yah…. I painted my desk a grey green color and then painted the inside of the drawers and inside the roll top a beautiful red. The walls in the bedroom are a kind of sage green and hubs painted the closet a silver grey with a glaze finish so it would be contemporary and all the colors flow so nice. My son gave me 4 cubby shelves and I painted them the same as the grey walls and he hung them over the desk. Since the closet isn’t a walk in, it didn’t have a light and I didn’t want to deal with making a place for a hard wired light so I hit up eBay and found a funky silver orb light from the 1960’s that finished the deal. I call it my office cubby but I don’t get to use it very much because hubby has taken over it! Lol…. He loves it. I bought a new sofa in 2010 and the one it replaced went to LSU with my daughter. It was red velvet and it is 20 years old and looks awesome! Nothing wrong with it and I had kids at home using the thing everyday. I spent a bit more for the thing but I got 18 years out of it, my sister used it one year and now my daughter will have it at least 4 years. So when I make a large purchase like that, I will spend more to get very good quality and keep it a long time. In fact the chaise that I got at the same time as the red velvet sofa is still sitting in my living room getting used everyday! So I completely understand about the throw away society. But we can help change that by installing the value of things to children as they grow up and hopefully they will learn from it. What scares me most is the social changes our youth are going through right now. They have a thousand friends on FB and text non stop but don’t interact personally as much so I see so many socially stunted children and its a shame. Go into a nice restaurant and a family of 4 sitting at a table all with heads down each texting on their phones and no family conversation going on. These kids are our future teachers, doctors, presidents and they don’t know how to act in social situations nowadays. Ok I’m stepping off my soapbox for now….