Planned obsolescence is a business, marketing and manufacturing strategy that builds in or plans for a product to become obsolete, outdated, unfashionable, antiquated or otherwise undesirable in a certain period of time. It puts manufacturers, consumers and environmentalists at odds. Companies use it to ensure future purchases and repeat customers. Consumers often feel slighted that they wasted money and the products are not durable enough. Environmentalists are concerned with the ecological burden planned obsolescence has on natural resource consumption and the ever increasing generation of garbage resulting from our disposable lifestyle.
We have never in our history created so much garbage. The United States is merely 5% of the world's population but creates nearly 30% of all garbage on the planet. The amount of garbage disposed of in one year in the U.S. alone is enough to fill Detroit's Ford Field almost 10,000 times. That's 10,000 times in one year. One year.
Yesterday, we mentioned the documentary. Today we picked up the book. Gone Tomorrow: The Hidden Life of Garbage is proving to be a read that is both fascinating and disturbing.
Recycling alone will not save us from the garbage we create as we are creating it at a rate far greater than the rate at which we recycle. What is needed is a paradigm shift on a global scale...a change that banishes the idea of disposable and demands products that are truly durable and sustainable.
But, in what lifetime can this be achieved? Let's ask ourselves...are we willing to make the shift, take the stand and be the change we want to see?
I'm glad to hear the book is equally riveting. I actually wrote my own post after seeing the documentary from your blog. Let's make our voices heard beyond the choir! I was amazed to learn the roots of the Keep America Beautiful campaign.
Posted by: FreshGreenKim | March 17, 2011 at 11:53 PM