\n \n<\/p>\n
It's a waste world
<\/h3>\n
A popular bumper sticker in the United States \u2013 typically seen on large vehicles, with giant wheels and vibrating chrome muffler pipes \u2013 reads: \u201cMy
\n carbon footprint is bigger than yours.\u201d This appears as a banner for the culture of extravagant indulgence. And wherever consumption is encouraged
\n and admired, waste follows.<\/p>\n
The world\u2019s rich cultures are all wasteful, and not just because of excessive fossil fuel use. Even our modern electronic devices represent a massive waste
\n stream. Last year, electronic waste reached an all-time record of 65 million tonnes.<\/p>\n
Planned Obsolescence<\/h3>\n
![\"International](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/4fYxdC8qbtPlLiqqNQTXPLwcTgTWKa5tFPwYAA0qgIgI8sGIBI_xrXwMxrSgv71qtDocRqj-c1z1cvyOIa3ElEuxG0DTmSUscjjRvCBF0johykH0gUZSGUGwBOQ4ufDYaJNtaJX9\" "\\"International")
Used bulb lamps collected by Greenpeace volunteers during the clean up at Bokor Island conservation area on Thousand Islands. © Dhemas Reviyanto \/
\n Greenpeace<\/p>\n
Even modern LED light bulbs, for example, do not last as long as incandescent bulbs made a century ago. One carbon filament light bulb<\/a>, at a fire station in Livermore, California, is still burning continuously after 120 years. Building In 1924, three companies \u2013 Dutch Philips, German Osram, and US General Electric \u2013 formed a cartel, Phoebus, to shorten the life of light bulbs. Making During World War I, the U.S. Treasury Department launched a frugality campaign to save resources for the war effort. Merchants, however, opposed the initiative. During the global economic depression in 1932, New York manufacturers circulated a pamphlet: \u201cEnding the Depression through Planned Obsolescence,\u201d the In 1950s America, advertising firms learned that they could sell products not based on function, quality, or durability, but on novelty. Products were Thus, the idea of well-made, durable products died away in rich nations, replaced by products that break, wear out, become obsolete, or go out of fashion. A small child sitting among cables and e-waste in Guiyu, China © Greenpeace \/ Natalie Behring<\/p>\n Since the 1980s, computers and electronic devices have made lives in rich countries more convenient and entertaining. Some observers expected that modern Mining for these minerals<\/a> tends to be ecologically destructive As computer chips got smaller, more powerful, and more energy efficient, the material and energy intensity of those chips increased exponentially. Since According to Statisa<\/a>, about 4 Discarded computer monitor casings in a lagoon in Ghana. © Greenpeace \/ Kate Davison<\/p>\n Apple Corporation has become notorious for designing smartphones, tablets, and laptops that are difficult to repair or upgrade. These policies are not Between June 29, 2007 and November 3, 2017, Apple introduced 14 new iPhone models, one every 37 weeks. The company stopped supporting the first generation According to Jason Koebler at Motherboard<\/a>, \u201cApple is trying to kill legislation that would make it easier for normal people to fix iPhones.\u201d Apple designs products However, Apple Corporation is not alone. According to a 2017 Greenpeace report<\/a>, Electronic waste has now reached over 65 million tonnes per year. Computers, screens, and small hand devices comprise about 22% of that waste, 14 million As with most of our ecological challenges, there are solutions, but the response requires more than marginal change. According to Deishin Lee<\/a>, at MIT\u2019s Sloan School of Management, \u201cmost waste is generated on purpose,\u201d built into modern business models. Lee Smartphone repair © RIcardo Padilla Roman \/ Greenpeace<\/p>\n Economist Tim Cooper, at Nottingham Trent University believes that a transformation away from planned obsolescence will require a \u201cradical, systemic change.\u201d Quality goods, robust repair-and-servicing, and secondhand markets would result in more jobs and more economic activity for a given amount of resources. In \u201cCulture of Waste<\/a>,\u201d Julian Cribb, a fellow of the Australian Academy Everything we build requires energy. Wasteful practices waste energy. Although we are witnessing an unprecedented effort to develop renewable energy, we The following chart \u2013 prepared by Canadian energy engineer David Hughes, using data from the 2019 BP Energy Review<\/a> \u2013 shows the annual growth in renewable energy compared to the annual growth in electricity demand. A great The only year that renewable energy growth exceeded demand growth occurred in 2009 during an economic recession. This chart reveals two critical pieces The idea that we should keep businesses growing by creating waste is no longer valid \u2013 and never was. We can employ more people by building quality products \u201cE-waste World Map Reveals National Volumes, International Flows,\u201d StEP Initiative<\/a>, 2013, Quoted in Greenpeace E-Waste report, 2016.<\/p>\n E-waste: The Escalation of a Global Crisis, TCO certified<\/a>\n<\/p>\n \n <\/a>\"Made to Break: Technology and Obsolescence in America,\u201d Giles Slade, Harvard University Press<\/a>, \u201cA Culture of Waste,\u201d Julian Cribb, Ecology Today<\/a>, 2012.<\/p>\n Guide to Greener Electronics 2017, Greenpeace Reports<\/a>, October \u201cOvercoming the culture of waste\u201d Deishin Lee, MIT<\/a>, Sloan School Power-hungry gadgets endanger energy efficiency gains, review of The International Energy Association analysis, John Timmer, 2009, ARS Technica<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Global E-waste Monitor, 2014: UN University<\/a>, \u201cElectronic Waste (E-Waste): How Big of a Problem is it?\u201d Rubicon<\/a>, \u201cThe monster footprint of digital technology,\u201d Kris de Decker, Low-Tech Magazine<\/a>,\u201cElectronics \u201cApple is against your-right to repair i-Phones New York state records confirm,\u201d Jason Koebler, Motherboard<\/a>, \u201cLonger Lasting Products: Alternatives to the Throwaway Society,\u201d Tim Cooper, Gower Books<\/a>, 2010.<\/p>\n Culture and Waste: The Creation and Destruction of Value, Edited by Gay Hawkins and Stephen Muecke, Rowman & Littlefield<\/a>, \u201cThe L.E.D. Quandary: Why There\u2019s No Such Thing as \u2018Built to Last\u2019,\u201d J. B. MacKinnon, New Yorker<\/a>, 2016.<\/p>\n \u201cPatagonia\u2019s Anti-growth Strategy,\u201d J.B. MacKinnon, New Yorker<\/a>, Here in NZ we continue with this \u2018business as usual\u2019 attitude, superimposed over the whole country. It is \u2018taken for granted\u2019 and the NZ Government is As a kid I used to be continuously walking up and down the main road collecting beer bottles as they were in those days just thrown out the window of cars. Why has NZ not been able to follow the legislation as in the State of South Australia and in the State of Oregon in the USA. Because, like all the other Yet, it could be said that as an extension of the top of this article that stoves, fridges etc don\u2019t last long too too, when compared to how they were Some of the other issues talked about in this interview was that big business is still calling the shots.<\/p>\n One of the issues is that businesses do not look at our planet as a complex living super system. They fail to see the biosphere as a homeostatic, self Their (very limited) perspective is that they are on \u2018a platform\u2019 - that has raw products coming in (they are not interested in where these products come There is no thought of \u2018nature\u2019 in any business model. Where as in America there is a remarkable treatise on this thought to come from a First Nations Privatise the Profits and Socialise the Costs - This means putting products or services on the market and if they do not measure up, then society picks It was the same when the Wall Street bankers in New York took insane monetary risks back in 2008 whilst still collecting \u2018extremely inflated commissions Cradle to Cradle was mentioned. http:\/\/www.cradletocradle.com<\/span><\/a> Cradle to Cradle is a design framework for going beyond sustainability and designing for abundance in a Circular Economy.<\/p>\n The Upcycle: Beyond Sustainability—Designing for Abundance is the eagerly awaited follow-up to Cradle to Cradle. Drawing on a decade of lessons, Prof Dr Michael Braungart gave an interview on the subject of microplastics on 23-10-2018 in the ZDF news programme heute+. Car tyres are the main cause In the 1980s, Braungart dedicated his work to the environmental organization Greenpeace and beginning in 1982 helped to establish the chemistry section Time magazine recognized William McDonough in 1999 as a \u201cHero for the Planet.\u201d<\/p>\n In 1996, Mr. McDonough received the Presidential Award for Sustainable Development, and in 2003 he earned the first U.S. EPA Presidential Green Chemistry Also mentioned was that we are reaching limits to growth and Rex and I touched on some of the major environmental challenges now affecting the biosphere. It was quickly noted that when the Japanese car companies came to North America that it only took a few years or so for the American people to realise Apple in the US comes in for some well earned criticism in the interview.<\/p>\n That between June 29, 2007 and November 3, 2017, Apple introduced 14 new iPhone models, one every 37 weeks. The company stopped supporting the first generation \u201cApple is trying to kill legislation that would make it easier for normal people to fix iPhones.\u201d <\/p>\n A Global commitment to CHANGE …<\/p>\n Transformation away from planned obsolescence will require a \u201cradical, systemic change.\u201d<\/p>\n To encourage minimum standards of durability, repairability, and upgradeability. What's wrong with 10 years for everything over $4,000?<\/p>\n Having quality goods, robust repair-and-servicing, and secondhand markets would result in more jobs and more economic activity for a given amount of resources. 2017, Greenpeace Report, advocates similar actions to create closed loop, circular production, beginning at the design stage, with all companies required There is a limit to growth on a finite planet.<\/p>\n There is a limit to growth - that if one becomes an astronaut or a cosmonaut - they see clearly from space - that life within the biosphere can only take Rex mentioned that unless we address the growth of human numbers and human enterprise, we are destined for the natural results of ecological overshoot. France Under French law it is a crime to intentionally shorten lifespan of a product with the aim of making customers replace it. ... The French investigation A new French law demands that manufacturers display how long their appliances will last. Could this stop planned obsolescence \u2013 products designed with Apple investigated by France for 'planned obsolescence' - BBC News https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-europe-42615378<\/a> https:\/\/www.mercurynews.com\/2018\/01\/09\/apple-investigated-by-france-for-planned-obsolescence-of-older-iphones\/<\/a> - This is a Silicon Valley newspaper.<\/p>\n Also covered was Regenerative Farming and Biological Farming as a way to make soils more healthy and keep the soil from being blown and washed off the
\n things that last, and consuming modestly, used to be common human values. But that all changed with the advent of contemporary business models and
\n modern marketing.<\/p>\n
\n light bulbs that could last 100 years limited their sales growth. They agreed on a thousand-hour standard, about three or four months of normal use,
\n the historic beginning of planned obsolescence.<\/p>\n
\n According to Giles Slade in Made to Break<\/a>, US stores displayed
\n signs such as, \u201cBeware of Thrift,\u201d and \u201cBusiness as Usual.\u201d New York retailers formed the \u201cNational Prosperity Committee,\u201d with slogans like, \u201cFull
\n Speed Ahead!\u201d and \u201cClear the Track for Prosperity!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n first known printed use of this phrase. An article in Printer\u2019s Ink journal warned that the idea of durability was \u201coutmoded,\u201d claiming that, \u201cIf merchandise
\n does not wear out faster, factories will be idle, people unemployed.\u201d Paul Mazur, a partner at Lehman Brothers, declared<\/a> that obsolescence, designing products to fail or wear out, was the \u201cnew god\u201d of business philosophy.<\/p>\n
\n sold as \u201cnew,\u201d \u201cmodern,\u201d and \u201cinnovative,\u201d whether or not the \u201cinnovations\u201d offered any genuine value. The throwaway fashion industry was born on the
\n notion that clothing \u201cstyles\u201d allegedly changed every year, and that to appear \u201cmodern,\u201d one must repeatedly buy new clothing. Ad agencies convinced
\n popular journals to publish fashion sections to inform, or manipulate, the public regarding the latest styles.<\/p>\n
\n This trend has now seized the modern electronics industry.<\/p>\nE-waste and the cost of high tech<\/h3>\n
![\"Toxics](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/G8HX99D9W_LUx-jK9gLeAa65sb06nIBhCFIZTBY7nQatz8qQodeSTM1h7LBOtuHkc7W9PUp76x1eWg0RSxbzNmk7n3uzsnuG_WtY_UC9bSeqGDPqsp8y7WfhhSck63ST-bUa3Ts4\" "\\"Toxics")
\n electronics would also make society more \u201cefficient,\u201d that computers would save paper and other resources. Those hopes, however, encountered what is
\n known in economics as the \u201crebound effect<\/a>\u201c:
\n Efficiency often leads to more resource use, not less. Human enterprise now uses six times more paper than we used at the dawn of the computer age,
\n six times more lithium, five times more cobalt, more iron, copper, and more rare earth metals.<\/p>\n
\n and exploitive of human labourers<\/a>.
\n Due to increasing demand and low rates of electronics recycling, mining companies are now proposing strip mines on the ocean floor, a practice that
\n ocean biologists say would permanently damage<\/a> unique and biodiverse ocean ecosystems.<\/p>\n
\n our computers require so little energy to operate, we may believe they are \u201cefficient,\u201d but we are measuring the wrong metric. To understand the high
\n cost of high tech, we must consider the embodied energy built into our devices, our telecom infrastructure, server networks, and data centres. We also
\n have to consider the sheer growth of consumption and the acceleration of waste.<\/p>\n
\n million cell phones are sold every day, over 1.5 billion per year. About 250 million computers are sold each year. The average lifetime of these devices
\n is now about two and a half years. Manufacturers design in obsolescence, changing critical parts and marketing more fashionable, \u201cimproved\u201d devices.
\n We may marvel at social media and connectivity, but this level of consumption leaves behind a massive, toxic, and destructive waste stream.<\/p>\n![\"Computer](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/CGfODzSxiGLFjCz_vFaH7W5vhHTj7jZNznXamVRDyF_nCrf-amQ5h1c0hDrPz51XITsEOHurLgtcB0SpPuLH20D6y2yqLV-pp05x56oDl5VJNTIVzXh2rZbY4M6q03c2ZYVjn_XP\" "\\"Computer")
\n an accident or a necessity of technological advance. They are marketing decisions, designed specifically, like the three-month light bulb, to sell
\n more products.<\/p>\n
\n phones within three years, and continues to make previous phones obsolete and unsupported.<\/p>\n
\n with proprietary parts that cannot be easily repaired and the company has actively lobbied against right-to-repair legislation in the US. According
\n to a Repair.org study<\/a>, both Apple and Sony have blocked environmental electronics standards
\n that would support repair, upgrade, and recycling.<\/p>\n
\n other consumer electronics companies are lagging far behind. Although Apple has made progress in the use of renewable energy they are \u201cmoving in the
\n wrong direction,\u201d along with Microsoft and Samsung, by shortening the useful life of devices. Samsung, Amazon, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi receive failing
\n grades in every category, using toxic chemicals and dirty energy, making short-lived products that are difficult to recycle, and hiding the data about
\n their practices. On the other hand, HP, Dell, and Fairphone are leaders in producing products that are repairable and upgradable.<\/p>\n
\n tonnes annually. According to a 2014 UN Report<\/a>,
\n Europe produced the highest per-capita electronic waste, over 15 kilograms per person every year. Asia generated the most e-waste, 16 million metric
\n tonnes, followed by the Americas, 11.7 million tonnes per year. Since 2014 those volumes have increase by about 50%.<\/p>\nSystem Change<\/h3>\n
\n criticizes \u201coutput-oriented,\u201d production systems that only consider the product. \u201cEvery output-oriented process,\u201d she writes, \u201cis designed to produce
\n waste.\u201d We can overcome this by shifting to input-oriented production, considering the value of all resources, how to conserve, and how to use resources
\n effectively, with a minimum of waste.<\/p>\n![\"Smartphone](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/fAwvM9AChluzgyLFrWeldope8RRgEj9Kn_Wn8FLdDL_i70ptSOScDnGzmdRnWqFnTEBNVX8Z38NPvjRb0dTdMBsZahcY4_LtQ3Afq4WLgQMvOWkE148qPCdjiVQaF3-oqmxaHtdK\" "\\"Smartphone")
\n In his book, \u201cLonger Lasting Products<\/a>,\u201d Cooper suggests the change could be accomplish with economic policies to encourage minimum standards
\n of durability, repairability, and upgradeability.<\/p>\n
\n Cooper calculates that when consumers spend less on throwaway products, they will spend more for other services and investments.<\/p>\n
\n of Technological Sciences and Engineering, describes how we could reverse the trends toward food waste with government regulation to limit wasteful
\n practices, full-cost pricing and taxing, subsidies for good stewardship production, and with education. The 2017, Greenpeace Report<\/a>, advocates similar actions to create closed loop, circular production, beginning at the design stage, with all
\n companies required to design recyclable parts, easy repair, and a take-back program for all products.<\/p>\nGrowth swamps efficiency<\/h3>\n
\n are failing to keep pace with growth in demand. Unless we address the growth of human numbers and human enterprise, we are destined for the natural
\n results of ecological overshoot. We also need to phase out fossil fuels and redouble efforts to build renewable energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\n deal of this demand is due to wasteful manufacturing and sales practices. Two-thirds of the growth is met with fossil fuels. Furthermore, this only
\n accounts for electricity. 83% of the world\u2019s energy consumption is non-electric.<\/p>\n![\"RE](\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/c9-zVgQuVaHSTFs_QGLcRu1LbFLzBSsSJmIqOw9P6X0oOt3cmjorXEaGxHXk4GQL5mWZHFH4swGPZi2pTOfOv_kcZBRs1GUe982OgvijwI9a-hhNxJgmQH3xkBmbacs812qEiPvv\" "\\"RE")
\n of our waste and energy challenge: (1) Renewable energy growth is not keeping pace with total energy demand, and (2) The way to turn this around is
\n to end the expectation of endless economic growth. Some companies, such as Fairphone<\/a> and Patagonia<\/a>,
\n have business models that account for slowing growth.<\/p>\n
\n and repairing them. To reverse the trend of wasteful production, biodiversity collapse, carbon emissions that cause global heating, and general ecological
\n overshoot, humanity has to embrace modest consumption and put an end to the era of extravagant indulgence.<\/p>\nReferences and Links<\/h3>\n
\n 2007; and excerpts at Google Books<\/a>.<\/p>\n
\n 17, 2017<\/p>\n
\n of Management, 2017.<\/p>\n
\n 2014.<\/p>\n
\n 2018 Facts and Figures on E-Waste and Recycling, Electronics Takeback Coalition<\/a>, 2014.<\/p>\n
\n Standards Are In Need of Repair,\u201d Mark Schaffer, Repair.org<\/a>, August 2017.<\/p>\n
\n 2017.<\/p>\n
\n 2002.<\/p>\n
\n 2015.<\/p>\nWhat is happening here in NZ?<\/h3>\n
\n basically none the wiser. They just continue to carry on as if everything is normal. The NZ struggle to get recycling more efficient has not been able
\n to get a deposit on soft drink or beer bottles, where once we had them.<\/p>\n
\n At the big rugby games at towns, during the curtain raiser prior to the main game, I was always able to collect enough coke and lemonade bottles to
\n be able to buy a drink and a hot pie and have some change left over. <\/p>\n
\n states in Australia and the USA - business interests in both these countries have overridden prudent ecological policies. Time and time again the breweries
\n and Coke cola with huge financial resources and well paid lawyers - have been able to stop a deposit with regard to recycling - in its tracks. Hence,
\n the throw away mentality is still prevalent in NZ especially with the unconscious male macho way of life. <\/p>\n
\n built 50 years ago.A person working at a local transfer station north of Auckland said - If it was not for the Warehouse - he would not have a job!
\n (The Bargain was not necessarily a bargain.)<\/p>\n
\n regulating system of trillions of living creatures that are all delicately balanced and embedded in the web of life.<\/p>\n
\n from or how they are extracted or gained) - all they want to do is then push (highly packaged) product out onto the market. It also does not really
\n matter how much pollution they produce in the process - hence various governments world wide - have had to enforce clean air and clean water standards
\n on businesses to force them to comply. This has been an ongoing \u2018battle\u2019 for over 100 years.<\/p>\n
\n \u2018Indian\u2019 called Chief Seattle.<\/p>\n
\n up the costs. - Cigarette companies did this with cigarettes. They made money out of selling them but when smokers ended up in hospital beds - especially
\n in countries with \u2018free\u2019 hospital care - it was those countries (the taxpayers) that paid to take care and treat those dying patients.<\/p>\n
\n and salaries\u2019 - that they threatened to collapse the whole US and world banking system. That the US Government was then \u2018forced\u2019 to bail them out -
\n with the US taxpayer taking the hit. This same mentality is pervasive within the current business world. Privatise the profit and socialise the losses.
\n That there is now such a devastating effect by having to clean up the global environment as a result of business practices that did not factor in a
\n healthy future of the world\u2019s children.<\/p>\nCradle to Cradle - and the Circular Economy<\/h3>\n
\n \n<\/p>\n
\n William McDonough & Michael Braungart put Cradle to Cradle\u00aeconcepts into practice with businesses, governments, and people around the world.<\/p>\n
\n of the microplasty discovered in the human intestine, says environmental expert Michael Braungart. The main problem is the harmful pollution.<\/p>\n
\n of Greenpeace International, which he took over in 1985. In the same year he received his Ph.D. from the University of Hannover's chemistry department.
\n In order to develop solutions for complex environmental problems, EPEA was established by Greenpeace in 1987. Ever since, Braungart has been involved
\n with research and consultancy for eco-effective products i.e. products and production processes in a loop, not only harmless to man or nature, but
\n beneficial.<\/p>\n
\n Challenge Award. In 2004, he received the National Design Award for achievement in the field of environmental design. In July 2014, Mr. McDonough was
\n appointed as Chair of the World Economic Forum Meta-Council on Circular Economy.<\/p>\n
\n Japanese built cars superior to American cars.<\/p>\n
\n that Japanese cars were not only more reliable but they lasted longer. The planned obsolescent cars from Ford, General Motors and now defunct Chrysler
\n were far inferior to the Japanese brands - hence their continued success in the US car market today.<\/p>\n
\n phones within three years, and continues to make previous phones obsolete and unsupported. Listen - Apple are not your kind and caring corporation.
\n They are a hard nosed business wanting to continually corner the market for their own ends. Listen to how they and Sony stopped legislation to not
\n allow their products to be repaired. <\/p>\n
\n We could also reverse the trends toward food waste with government regulation to limit wasteful practices, full-cost pricing and taxing, subsidies
\n for good stewardship production, and with education.<\/p>\n
\n to design recyclable parts, easy repair, and a take-back program for all products.<\/p>\n
\n so much. That the increase in human numbers and their extracting and polluting practices is overwhelming the natural worlds ability to rebalance these
\n intrusions because of the short time span.<\/p>\n
\n We also need to phase out fossil fuels and redouble efforts to build renewable energy infrastructure.<\/p>\n
\n is being led by the economy ministry's consumer protection agency. It follows a legal complaint filed in December by pro-consumer group Stop Planned
\n Obsolescence (Hop). Jan 8, 2018.<\/p>\nEnd of the line for stuff that's built to die?<\/h3>\n
\n restricted lifetimes? https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/technology\/shortcuts\/2015\/mar\/03\/has-planned-obsolesence-had-its-day-design<\/a> <\/p>\n
\n land. This farming method is most definitely the most important way to regenerate our land without using fertilisers.https:\/\/www.ourplanet.org\/Default.aspx?CCID=34961&FID=629092&ExcludeBoolFalse=True&ID=\/greenplanetfm\/search-results<\/a>\n<\/p>\n