Introduction
“Your printer just let you go ?” ” Want to buy a computer that lasts ten years ? “
Forgotten , Mother Denis and washing machine indestructible. At the mass market, everything is disposable. I must say that in a few years, the life of electrical and electronic products was reduced to a trickle. Phones, computers, washing machine, toaster … No product escapes the trend.
Real life :
-* For general public printers they just reach three years lifetime.
-* The laptops have two and a half years to five years lifetime .
-* The flat screens die quickly (their rate of failure could reach 34 % after four years for some models.)
-* The smartphones and tablets batteries are designed to not exceed 300-400 charge cycles, which is just two to three years of use.
-* The repair expenses fell 40% down (1997-2007) .
Repairs :
-* Only 44 % of devices falling down would be repaired.
-* Before it was possible to easily change the drum bearings of a washing machine. Today , tanks are manufactured with bearing seams. If they break, you have to change everything!
-* Sometimes the chargers of new devices are not compatible with the old one. The battery can be glued rather than screwed …
-* Apple’s battery on iPod is a bit weak and replace it just costs a little less than the price of a new iPod.
Alternative Products :
-* The related marketing and fashion obsolescence is very high. It is even so strong that it leads consumers to shun greener products.
-* Examples: Paul Maher, an Irish entrepreneur, has sold Iameco a 98% recyclable computer with a wooden hull. The device is not without advantages: it is silent , low power consumption and especially his life more than ten years . However, he struggles to seduce. Phone and Block, a fully composed of parts that can be replaced device rest him in draft … lack of wholesale financiers.
Waste and recycling:
-* It is estimated that more than 6 million European electronic garbages are still not recycled. The U.S. continue to tolerate the export of such waste to Asia or Africa. Nokia recycles no more than 2 % of mobile phones sold. The recycling rate for computers does not exceed 9%.
Greenpeace video :
