Rethinking Lifestyle

I enjoy repairing toys, appliances and other items that assist our work and play. Because spare parts are not available for many repairs, I depend heavily on tin, steel, copper, aluminum, brass, wood, plastic, rigid and flexible tubes of various sizes, nails, screws and bolts, epoxy, wood glue, and different kinds of tape. I’ve even used thread locker to hold small screws in place.

Our vacuum cleaner is a wonderful machine, with lots of power and many attachments. It is light, convenient to use, and easy to clean out. I estimate that we purchased this vacuum cleaner about 10 years ago for a price of approximately $100. Four years later, the vertical handle/pipe broke off close to the upright canister. As the handle also provides the vacuum connection to the carpet cleaner head, the vacuum cleaner was basically rendered inoperable.

The repair involved attaching a 4” length of brass tubing (designed for a sink drain), cut along one side to allow for a tapered shape, packed with epoxy around the vacuum cleaner tube and secured with 8 short screws. All materials were from my workshop and its collection of fasteners and assorted bits and pieces. Even if purchased new, materials would total no more than $15.

The repair is certainly visible, but it is sleek enough that my wife didn’t remember that a repair had been done.

So, for a few hours of time and materials at hand, I was able to extend the useful life of our vacuum cleaner from 4 years to at least 10 years, with every indication that it will last another 5, probably 10 years.

Many of us are using a snow scoop/shovel these days, it being winter in Manitoba. I have a snow scoop that is advertised as having a replaceable metal wear strip. Unfortunately, I am unable to find a supplier of replacement strips. The result is that many snow scoops are tossed early, wasting plastic and wood.

Our microwave oven is 5 years old. We have replaced bulbs twice and have required 2 service calls, one to replace the door switch assembly.

Are all of these the result of planned obsolescence? I don’t know, but it certainly looks that way. If appliances break down quickly, the manufacturer sells more appliances. Would more robust appliances be much more expensive to manufacture? I expect not. Our vacuum cleaner, for example, could have been beefed up or otherwise strengthened at one critical point, increasing manufacture cost by, I estimate, less than $10.

When appliances break down, there are several obstacles to repairing them. Right to repair is a movement to overcome some of those obstacles. An example of a very practical obstacle is tools. Our toaster is held together by 4 screws that are not accessible by standard screw types: Phillips, Robertson, slot or Torx. A local popular hardware store has a large display of different

sizes and brand names of those 4 types, and no others. Since the toaster screws are designed to fit a 3-point screwdriver head, I was able to modify a Torx (6-point) screwdriver to serve the purpose. The 3-point screws are in all other aspects identical to standard screws, and the only reason I can think of to use them is to provide an obstacle to repair.

Right to repair seeks to provide access to parts, tools, information, and software. On October 18, 2023, the House of Commons unanimously passed Bill C-244, a private member’s bill aimed at supporting the right to repair.

Jason Hickel, in his book Less is More – How Degrowth will Save the World, suggests an additional approach. He suggests introducing mandatory extended warranties, which would result in using existing technology that would produce appliances lasting an average two to five times longer than they presently do. This would significantly reduce energy, resources, and human labour used in manufacturing.