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Many are under the false impression that the American industrial designer Brooks Stevens coined the phrase "planned obsolescence". The phrase was the result of a pamphlet written by Manhattan real-estate broker Jack London that was titled Ending the Depression through Planned Obsolescence (Slade, 2006: 73,152-3).
Stevens was giving a speech at an advertising conference in 1954 and introduced the idea that planned obsolescence constituted the mission of industrial design.
The concept was that the buyer should have "the desire to own something a little newer, a little better, [and] a little sooner than is necessary" (cited in Slade, 2006: 153).
View entire pamphlet here >>
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It's not just about Reduce, Reuse & Recycle Us |
It's about RETHINK.
Have you ever considered calculating an item's environmental cost before buying it? The big problem in today's society is that too many people have politicized the environmental issue. There are too many people who lead the charge to debate "global warming" when there are a myriad of environmental issues that could serve as the impetus for changes in the way we live that both sides would readily agree upon.
Let's talk plastic. We are drowning in a plastic ocean.
Let's talk natural resources. Whatever solutions that are brought to the table... don't we realize that many of them will endanger a natural resource? Many people talk about solar power, which has some great viable applications. The problem comes when NOONE talks about where all the lithium is going to come from and how we're going to dispose of used batteries. Are we going to send those to the landfill?
Let's talk planned obsolescence. Big box stores thrive because the items on their shelves are designed to fail within a planned time frame. Nothing is built to last. Nothing is built to repair. Why can't we buy a radio that can be repaired? Why can't we buy a toaster or coffee maker that can have a part replaced when it breaks? Because it is made to break within a short time frame, and priced at a price that you won't freak out to go buy a new one. There is no consideration of the massive burden that this philosophy plays on our planet in terms of landfills and demand on natural resources.
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We have to start to RETHINK the very fabric of our society. It can be done. And you can be a part of this fantastic new way to look at buying something.
We will start reporting on products and companies who operate on this philosophy. Manufacturing products that are made to last, focusing on sustainability.
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