Anyone seen 'Buy It Now' on Netflix?

[whyohwhymetoday]

About wasteful consumerism and fast fashion and products

I might be wildly out of touch here but I thought companies making stuff stop working after a while was in my head/just a conspiracy theory...

Argh, no wonder I find smart phones start to get slower after 2 years, despite doing the updates.

Apparently, this is deliberate- even down to light bulbs and printers.

The image of a New York/London (don't know which) having plastic tat as high as mountains next to buildings made me shudder

Also, I couldn't see another thread on this so apologies if it already exists

Of course, it's called "built-in obsolescence". Manufacturers could easily make items which would last longer, but they'd be putting themselves out of business if they did.

It is mind blowing, the figures they were throwing out. They say 'people forget, these things don't get thrown away. They're just thrown somewhere else in this planet'

But where? Surely, given the billions of items produced and thrown every year, there will very quickly be nowhere to put it all? Surely land will be filled eventually, and sea? That's before you take into account the toxins they release into the environment which is a different side topic

Yeah, I saw the bit about too many clothes and we should stop making them. So I'm doing No Spend 2025.

Yes watched most of it…it was very shocking. Have definitely noticed built in obsolescence increasing in the last 30 years or so…partly down to so much being electronic, I think, so if something goes wrong the whole unit has to be replaced. In fact several repairers of various domestic products eg boiler, told me to hang onto my old products as long as possible as they are so much better made than the newer ones. I’ve also been told that carpets, curtain fabrics etc are far lower spec and won’t look good for long, because people expect e.g to re- carpet their whole house every few years. My best friend is still using curtains that her mother saved up for in the 1950s or 60s - and they still look fine!

Perhaps things will change when rare metals really start running short, not holding my breath though…

Strange you should say that! My ex H's nan sadly passed away a few years ago, and hand on heart, her carpets hadn't been done since the year 2000 on her stairs and landing/bedrooms and they were sooo plush and thick. Never worn down, after over 25 years almost!

Just a shame they were a deep orange

I watched it. It made me very sad, and also was not good for my blood pressure. I think it should be compulsory viewing in secondary education.

I've just watched it. How utterly bleak. We can try to make better buying choices, but what can we do if the criteria we base our decisions on are just lies?

Even paying more for goods is no guarantee of quality and better lifespan, when the higher end brands are produced in the same factories as the cheaper ones.

I dislike waste, so I do reuse things and repair them when possible, and I don't think I really buy a lot of stuff, but obviously I'm as guilty as the next person of buying stuff I don't really need from time to time. I like @Bananalanacake's suggestion of No Spend 2025 and I'm going to think hard about anything I'm considering buying.