Buy it, Use it, Break it...

The cycle of consumption. Buy it - Use it - Break it... Then what?

For our grandparents the next thing in the line was to FIX IT!!! Things would be fixed many times before they were thrown out and new items bought. When they were finally un-re-fixable often times people would go without for a while before replacing the items.

For our parents high quality items started to be inexpensive and it was often easier to just buy a new one. Of course over the years quality has really gone down and the break it stage comes sooner and the fix it stage...

Take for example our now three year old gas stove. When we were buying appliances we did a lot of research, we wanted high quality appliances which would last us years and which were very energy and water efficient. We landed on Bosch dishwasher, washer and dryer and got a Fisher & Paykel refrigerator. We love all of them. But then we came to our stove. Our big splurge and we did not do a lot of research. Not having the money for the Viking, Wolf, or Aga ranges we lusted over we picked a KitchenAid model. We had problems with it immediately, but the first year we ran a self clean cycle and both the thermal override fuse and the digital control panel were toast. I could not even open the door, good thing there was no food in there, as it took a while to get service. They replaced the control panel under warranty (good thing because it was a $900 peice) and the service call ONLY cost us $140. Electronic components go out of warranty at two years so when our control panel started going again it was to late (although I have never run another self clean cycle I was too scared!) Right now the only way to turn off our oven is to set the timer to automatically turn it off... Because the off button does not work. The company does not care and we figure we will just use it until it dies all the way (which knowing my luck will be when there is a turkey in it!) If it makes it until July it will have cost us $500 a year... For what is basically (and sadly) a disposable item.

I call this iPod syndrome, when it is broken buy a new one, the new ones are better anyway! Our parents purchased clothes which were "classic" but we restock our wardrobe every year. And the scary thing is that the global economy is built on a foundation of us doing just that... And that is bad because we cannot keep doing that, things need to adjust.

As we are buying garden tools this year we find ourselves spending more on individual items, but buying items that will last and can be fixed. Because we think we may be counting on these items for a few years to come...

We can change the cycle from Buy it, Use it, Break it, Buy it, Use it, Break it,Buy it, Use it, Break it...

To Buy it, Use it, Use it, Use it, Break it, Fix it,Use it, Use it, Use it, Break it, Fix it,Use it, Use it, Use it, Break it, Look hard to find the best replacement...