Remember when appliances seemed to last forever? That trusty refrigerator from your grandparents’ house or the washing machine that lasted decades without a hitch? Those days seem to be long gone.
In the past, appliances were built to last. Manufacturers used high-quality materials and robust engineering to ensure that products could withstand years of use. Companies seemed to take pride in quality and the products they made. When product did break, they could be fixed, and you were willing to fix them because there was less worry about “what’ll break next?”
It is no secret that modern appliances are now designed with a much shorter lifespan in mind. It is known as planned obsolescence. Appliances fail so quickly and so often because of cheaper materials and components, smart features and digital controls that introduce new points of failure, difficult and costly repairs, and the fast fashion mentality. That last one is kinda on us as consumers.
Yesterday, I got one of those “memories” reminders on Facebook with a picture of our new appliances in our newly remodeled kitchen. At the same time, my wife was out comparison shopping to replace that very refrigerator. Eight years was all we got out of this model. It would have cost over $1300 to repair the condenser. This repair has not been the only problem we have had. Cheap plastics on the door shelves have been repaired (Super Glue works for only so long), and we finally gave up in the ice machine after multiple repair visits. The same brand made our cooktop. We keep a stock of dials on hand because they break on a regular basis (and we must like the gas with a Bic lighter, because, of course, the ignition doesn’t work).
When did this all happen? Did it come on us suddenly or did the manufacturers start shaving years off years gradually starting in the ‘70s and ‘80s? (I had a friend comment that her grandparents have a ‘70s freezer that is still running strong.) The sad thing is that the brand that has been so frustrating has one of the highest reliability ratings in Consumer Reports. It is hard to pay $1300 for a repair when a new model costs only a few hundred dollars more. If a repair would keep it alive for 8 more years (without all the other incidental repairs and plastic replacements) then investing in the labor and parts makes some sense—that’s what kept old appliances and cars running in our not-so-distant past.
This shift toward disposable goods isn’t just hard on consumers’ wallets—it also takes a toll on the environment. The short lifespan of modern appliances leads to more waste in landfills and higher demand for raw materials to produce new products. Energy is consumed in both the manufacturing and disposal processes, contributing to environmental degradation. And all those plastic parts we must keep replacing…. We want to cut down on the use of petroleum? Do we forget where plastics come from?
What can we do? It is easy to allow ourselves to take the blame and say, “do your research” and “attend to regular maintenance,” but we also must stand up against the wave of unnecessary technology and cheap components. I mean, really. Do we need ice on-demand? Do we have to get our filtered water from the door of the refrigerator? What ever happened to ice trays (and remembering to fill them (I’m talking to my kids, here)? What is wrong with drinking tap water (except in places where municipal tap water is unsafe) or water from a pitcher with a filter or a filtered tap? Stand against the throw away culture!
Manufacturers, shame on you! Build something you can stand proudly behind. Imagine if our appliance and automobiles and electronics could all last for decades with regular maintenance and occasional electronic and/or software updates (instead of new models being marketed to us with increasing frequency and models becoming “no longer supported” long before their functional expiration). What if manufacturers could say about their products….
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!!