The Definitive Guide to Repair, Replace, and Recycle

Are you still tossing out machines rather than to repair them? Can you be forgiven for hanging onto the outdated notion that nonfunctioning machines and household appliances must be tossed and replaced?

The concept of throwaway culture belongs in the waste bin of history. No longer is it necessary to toss out every washer, A/C, vacuum, fridge, and other household appliance and electronic device. This guide is designed to help you decide whether to repair, discard, or replace those broken machines in your life, and which avenues to pursue when you make those choices.

Our Disposable Society

It is easy to blame the people of the last century for creating, pushing, and propagandizing throwaway culture. Before that time, repair shops abounded in all cities and people had the skills to repair small appliances. It didn’t hurt that machines were more basic and easier to fix in those simpler times.

The use-and-toss ethos reached its apex in 1955 with the Life magazine article “Throwaway Living,” which cheerfully promoted “disposable items that cut down household chores.”¹

After the ecological movement of the 1970s and the later awareness of climate change, consumers began to look askance at throwaway culture. But with the new millennium and its rise of cheap products from overseas, we have seen a resurgence in throwaway culture. Millennials are not especially keen on throwing everything away, but technology improves so rapidly that tossing and replacing can make more sense than fixing.

Source: Fix.com