I have been thinking about writing this post ever since my aborted attempt at repairing some USB headphones this weekend. I am very frustrated with the fact that almost all consumer electronics are designed to break. It makes perfect sense from a business standpoint, but it is pretty much the opposite of green.
I try to reduce the amount of waste resulting from my use of technology. I buy fewer mobile phones than the average consumer. The industry has successfully created a 24 month replacement cycle. Many technophiles and early adopters buy even more often. My family of 5 makes do with three phones and one of them is 5 years old.
We don’t have a television set or a DVD player. Pretty much every device or peripheral that we have has legitimate work or educational purpose. I get really frustrated when an item like a computer mouse or a set of headphones stops working after only a year or two. I get extra frustrated when the item was a ‘better quality’ model. The head set that broke this month was purchased for the purpose of teleconferencing, recording tutorials and other work related stuff. They looked durable and they cost more than twice as much as the cheapest alternative. When I disassembled the volume control I found that the impression of durability was an illusion.
It’s not like it’s impossible to make durable electronics. I have a transcription pedal that appears to be built to last forever. When I was a teenager several of my friends had guitar effects pedals that you could probably throw against a wall without causing damage. Manufacturers of these specialty products are competing for a very finite number of customers who. This might account for the build quality. I’m not so sure about that though.
Last year I spent a few months toying with the idea of making field recordings on world music and creating a website where people could provide a fair payment directly to the musicians. There are several different companies selling affordable mobile digital audio recording equipment. I did a lot of research because I couldn’t afford to buy something that wouldn’t be adequate for my needs. The online reviews have lead me to believe that every make and model has issues with build quality and reliability. I felt like there was a good chance that I could spend hundreds of dollars, including a hefty shipping cost, only to find that my device was defective. The frustration with this issue played a part in stalling the whole project
Anyway, the point of this post is this… I think there are enough conscious consumers to represent a market for durable green electronics. If you needed a new computer mouse (for the nth time in your life) and there was a mouse in the store that was designed to last forever, would you buy it? What if there was a mobile phone that was built to last forever? Would you be willing to pass up the early adoption rush that Apple et al. cash in on for the rest of your life? There are several consumer electronic items that are not going to change that much with regard to function for the rest of our lives. I would like to see a market develop for truly durable items and I think the products could be legitimately advertised as ‘green.’
If you think there is already a supply for this hypothetical demand, please comment with links to the products.
I try to reduce the amount of packaging that I bring into my house but sometimes I impulsively buy something just because I like the packaging. I tell myself that I can reuse that packaging. I don’t have a specific need for that material but I somehow just know that it is the solution to a problem that I don’t even know I have. This morning as I was putting away the empty egg containers that I actually do use (for containing eggs that are sold unpackaged from the back of a truck), I saw an old frenemy in the back of the cupboard. The burlap potato bag that I bought this winter.
As I wondered what to do with it for about the hundredth time it dawned on me that I should just write this post asking for suggestions. So what do you think I should do with this material?
There now that that’s over with you will understand why I was looking for a more sustainable option for lighting the burner of the gas range. By the way, nobody calls it a gas range here in Gozo. Cooker is the most common term and hob is often used to describe the top burner.
I am not a fan of plastic lighters. They are a pretty common site on the beach and elsewhere in the environment. Matches aren’t necessarily a green solution. I decided to try out the flint and steel option. A torch striker cost me €2.33 and it unfortunately came in a little plastic bag. It took a little while to get the hang of it but as you can see in this poorly lit video, it works.
If I didn’t have the disposable lighter that was already here when I moved in, I could light candles with a piece of spaghetti ignited with the stove. I got that tip from the comments on the FakePlasticFish when Beth Terry was debating matches versus lighters.
Before I can really recommend the torch striker as a good alternative, I have to see how long a flint lasts and how the replacements are packaged. I will update this post when I run out of flint.
I am not going to ramble on too much about finding ideas for the future by looking at the tools and techniques used in the past. Just keep your eyes and your mind open to old ideas.
I didn’t come away from my tour of an vintage machine shop with any new ideas. at least not this time. Some old ideas that I have covered on this blog in the past include washboards and unsliced bread.
Solar power is the most inherently interesting ‘green’ technology. The internet is buzzing with marketers trying to sell information products about solar power. There are also countless electronics companies selling solar powered gadgets and solar chargers for gadgets. I have an interest in solar power and an aversion to gadgets. I really hate solar powered gadgets that are designed primarily to sell.
If you are interested in reducing your plastic waste, don’t buy a solar powered gadget, at least not until they get serious about making them truly useful and efficient. Amazon reviews are a good place to find an honest assessment of any given gadget. I have looked at solar laptop chargers and so far nobody has hit the right balance of power, portability and affordability.
Residential solar panels are serious business. These days various government incentives are boosting demand for them. This is driving the costs down. It is also driving production that might not be environmentally responsible. If you want to be as green as possible, you need to do some research and find out which type of panel has the least negative impact on the environment. Some of the cheapest panels are made in countries with a poor environmental track record. The production of solar cells typically involves a lot of toxic metals. It also involves a lot of water and energy use. Researchers in environmental science have done the work of comparing the environmental costs of a range of different solar panels. Here is a PDF with their results. That research is a couple of years old, so there is a chance that newer technologies are even better.
One important consideration when calculating the environmental cost of residential solar panels is the fact that the technology can potentially replace a system that involves long distance transmission. Transmitting electricity over distance is inefficient and it uses mined metals and plastic insulation.
One of the most offensive forms of environmental damage that I have ever seen involved electrical transmission lines. When I lived in a rural area of Canada I found a spot in the forest where some criminals had burned the plastic off a pile of stolen copper wiring. Copper had value as a material for recycling. Plastic doesn’t.
Buying LED light bulbs might be a better investment in green energy tech than solar panels for most people.
