Page 1 of 1 pages
Excellent article and great reference to a favorite site, thestoryofstuff.com. But I have to take issue with one comment: comforters filled with down should no longer be made. As described in the Story of Stuff, the process of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal applies to animal products as well as consumer goods. But with animal products, there is one very important distinction: the animals are sentient, unlike ore or petroleum taken from the ground.
In a period of fifteen years, the Japanese slaughtered five million birds—mostly albatrosses—for headdresses of Europeans and Americans and down for pillows and comforters. Five million birds who knew nothing of the dangers of man, who stood by their eggs until they were grabbed by the neck and put into bags or slaughtered on the spot.
While I’m no fan of DuPont or Dow Chemical, I’m glad to have a 20-year-old fiber filled sleeping bag that I’ve used for two kayaking trips above the Arctic Circle.
Posted by nyvegan on Oct 22, 2009 at 1:09 PM
In the 1970 I visited the Soviet Union with my father who had a keen interest in consumer products. This was a period when Soviet consumer goods where considered a joke. We spent a lot of time in stores checking out the wares. We noticed that small appliances like toasters where much more expensive than in the U.S. They also seemed overbuilt. Toasters with actual screws that you could take apart. Then we noticed all these kiosks and small shops called Metal Repair Shops. Turns out a toaster was not a disposable item there. If if broke you took it to the Metal Repair Shops to get it fixed. They had parts and replacement cords for all kinds of things. They even fixed my father’s umbrella which he had brought from the U. S. When we returned people made fun of me for singing the praise of Russian Toasters.
Posted by Gordon Quinn on Oct 27, 2009 at 12:10 PM
“Eat it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Do without’ - This was the little rhyme that I grew up with. I agree with much of what you’ve written in this excellent article. Dealing with obsolescence built into products is a major issue. But I feel priveliged to live at a time when we are waking up to the need to build in recyclability and the changing mindset of people generally who are now increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their consumerist actions.
I whole heartedly agree with the previous commenter who makes some very valid points regarding the use of animal derived products. There is still much barbaric action in the world in the treatment of animals, especially those considered as domestic. Bread solely for the fulfilment of our needs. This has got to change.
IMHO.
Search Engine Optimisation
Posted by Jeff Lepperd on Apr 23, 2010 at 6:22 AM
the problem of too many litter that is produced by the mankind will never be solved by itself, we should only learn to recycle all the kinds of litter that we combust… this is the only way!
And by the way the thing that nowadays being green is kind of fashionable is a very good thing!!!
fashion jewellery
Posted by Ann Moss on May 14, 2010 at 2:06 AM
It is difficult beacuse I think the idea of recycling will be adopted in the western world fairly rapildy but getting the idea across to the Eastern developing countires is an insummountable task, I was in Mumbai a few months ago and you literally wouldn’t believe the litter, thanks for the article
Photos on canvas
Posted by Paul Mosley on Jun 26, 2010 at 5:24 AM
Waste what want not is a very good saying. To many people waste too much. Great post
Digital marketing
Posted by Rob douglas on Aug 21, 2010 at 12:44 PM
I agree, waste what want not. A great saying. There is far too much plastic wrapping used these days.
Software development
Posted by Sarah Stephens on Aug 21, 2010 at 2:20 PM
Things aren’t build to last these days because people realise that if they last, you won’t buy another.
Load testing software
Posted by Ben Morris on Aug 21, 2010 at 2:24 PM
It’s quite obvious that design needs to be fantastic to survive the short attention span and crazy pace of the modern consumer, but good design on its own won’t do it. If something is to remain in use, it seems like the wisdom of the crowd is required (unless we’re talking about seriously upmarket things). What we need to do is re-educate the consumer, and make people want to keep a hold of things and maybe also prepare people to pay a bit more for better quality that lasts longer.
Yes, that’s the way it should be, treating the planet with respect! ottoman beds
Posted by storagebeds on Oct 4, 2010 at 11:38 AM
It’s true, we live in a trow away world nowadays. Everything from products to relationships seem to be more transient than they once were..
Will we ever move closer to treating the planet with respect? Not in the short term I guess
Data Centre Cleaning
Posted by Jonathan Smith on Nov 18, 2010 at 7:15 AM
Great article and indeed we are fast becoming a “throw away” society, thus the importance of articles as such to further reform learnt behaviour, which is ingrained in the life we lead today
SEO
Posted by Richard Tennant on Dec 12, 2010 at 5:21 AM
I couldn’t agree more. In so many aspects of life new is seen as fashionable and old is seen as, well, just not being able to afford new! That said, some of the old items that were once relatively inexpensive are now staging a comeback as ‘retro’. The issue is that the price is not particularly retro, making them the preserve of the wealthy.
There are some instances however where old can pose problems.
In the IT world, where, lets face it we all have some interaction, there is a problem with what we would call old hardware in that it develops a strange phenomena called Zinc Whiskers. These grow on the Zinc that is there to protect the product.
This is one of the few situations where new is probably better than old. You can read more at: Zinc Whiskers
Posted by Peter Turner on Dec 13, 2010 at 4:40 AM
It seems that the throw away society is growing larger by the second. millions of people in the East are waking up to the fact that wealth buys all of the electronic gadgets that they could image. Just when the west are realizing the futility of it all and envying the East, the East are moving more to the western culture.
Posted by Peter Turner on Dec 16, 2010 at 4:39 AM
The issue is that computers make it possible to waste even more natural resources even quicker. Does anybody remember the promise of the paper free office?
Hios Electric Screwdrivers
Posted by James Mann on Dec 16, 2010 at 4:53 AM
Great post, social responsibility gets lost behind a celebrity obsession in today’s world!
If only people could strive to be a little deeper the world would be a better place.
Virtual Gastric Band
Posted by Martin James on Jan 6, 2011 at 10:42 AM
Page 1 of 1 pages
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Reader Comments
Excellent article and great reference to a favorite site, thestoryofstuff.com. But I have to take issue with one comment: comforters filled with down should no longer be made. As described in the Story of Stuff, the process of extraction, production, distribution, consumption and disposal applies to animal products as well as consumer goods. But with animal products, there is one very important distinction: the animals are sentient, unlike ore or petroleum taken from the ground.
In a period of fifteen years, the Japanese slaughtered five million birds—mostly albatrosses—for headdresses of Europeans and Americans and down for pillows and comforters. Five million birds who knew nothing of the dangers of man, who stood by their eggs until they were grabbed by the neck and put into bags or slaughtered on the spot.
While I’m no fan of DuPont or Dow Chemical, I’m glad to have a 20-year-old fiber filled sleeping bag that I’ve used for two kayaking trips above the Arctic Circle.
In the 1970 I visited the Soviet Union with my father who had a keen interest in consumer products. This was a period when Soviet consumer goods where considered a joke. We spent a lot of time in stores checking out the wares. We noticed that small appliances like toasters where much more expensive than in the U.S. They also seemed overbuilt. Toasters with actual screws that you could take apart. Then we noticed all these kiosks and small shops called Metal Repair Shops. Turns out a toaster was not a disposable item there. If if broke you took it to the Metal Repair Shops to get it fixed. They had parts and replacement cords for all kinds of things. They even fixed my father’s umbrella which he had brought from the U. S. When we returned people made fun of me for singing the praise of Russian Toasters.
“Eat it up, Wear it out, Make it do, Do without’ - This was the little rhyme that I grew up with. I agree with much of what you’ve written in this excellent article. Dealing with obsolescence built into products is a major issue. But I feel priveliged to live at a time when we are waking up to the need to build in recyclability and the changing mindset of people generally who are now increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of their consumerist actions.
I whole heartedly agree with the previous commenter who makes some very valid points regarding the use of animal derived products. There is still much barbaric action in the world in the treatment of animals, especially those considered as domestic. Bread solely for the fulfilment of our needs. This has got to change.
IMHO.
Search Engine Optimisation
the problem of too many litter that is produced by the mankind will never be solved by itself, we should only learn to recycle all the kinds of litter that we combust… this is the only way!
And by the way the thing that nowadays being green is kind of fashionable is a very good thing!!!
fashion jewellery
It is difficult beacuse I think the idea of recycling will be adopted in the western world fairly rapildy but getting the idea across to the Eastern developing countires is an insummountable task, I was in Mumbai a few months ago and you literally wouldn’t believe the litter, thanks for the article
Photos on canvas
Waste what want not is a very good saying. To many people waste too much. Great post
Digital marketing
I agree, waste what want not. A great saying. There is far too much plastic wrapping used these days.
Software development
Things aren’t build to last these days because people realise that if they last, you won’t buy another.
Load testing software
I agree. We need to waste less and treat the planet with respect
Property search agency
It’s quite obvious that design needs to be fantastic to survive the short attention span and crazy pace of the modern consumer, but good design on its own won’t do it. If something is to remain in use, it seems like the wisdom of the crowd is required (unless we’re talking about seriously upmarket things). What we need to do is re-educate the consumer, and make people want to keep a hold of things and maybe also prepare people to pay a bit more for better quality that lasts longer.
Yes, that’s the way it should be, treating the planet with respect! ottoman beds
It’s true, we live in a trow away world nowadays. Everything from products to relationships seem to be more transient than they once were..
Will we ever move closer to treating the planet with respect? Not in the short term I guess
Data Centre Cleaning
Great article and indeed we are fast becoming a “throw away” society, thus the importance of articles as such to further reform learnt behaviour, which is ingrained in the life we lead today
SEO
I couldn’t agree more. In so many aspects of life new is seen as fashionable and old is seen as, well, just not being able to afford new! That said, some of the old items that were once relatively inexpensive are now staging a comeback as ‘retro’. The issue is that the price is not particularly retro, making them the preserve of the wealthy.
There are some instances however where old can pose problems.
In the IT world, where, lets face it we all have some interaction, there is a problem with what we would call old hardware in that it develops a strange phenomena called Zinc Whiskers. These grow on the Zinc that is there to protect the product.
This is one of the few situations where new is probably better than old. You can read more at: Zinc Whiskers
It seems that the throw away society is growing larger by the second. millions of people in the East are waking up to the fact that wealth buys all of the electronic gadgets that they could image. Just when the west are realizing the futility of it all and envying the East, the East are moving more to the western culture.
The issue is that computers make it possible to waste even more natural resources even quicker. Does anybody remember the promise of the paper free office?
Hios Electric Screwdrivers
Great post, social responsibility gets lost behind a celebrity obsession in today’s world!
If only people could strive to be a little deeper the world would be a better place.
Virtual Gastric Band
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