Making Things Last: From Possessions to Planet

Innovations are scaling up to sever our addiction to all things ‘new.’ This post explores how we can step up in the name of preservation.

The ‘sell more, sell faster’ principle of the last century has rewarded us with masses of redundant stuff. The environment is buried under leftovers and drowning in the emissions of our fallen fads. Our relationship with material stuff is under scrutiny; zooming in on design, access and lifespan of everyday products. Economist Tim Jackson pins us as consumed consumers as we have been persuaded to…..

“spend money we don’t have, on things we don’t need, to make impressions that won’t last.”

If making things last is a designer’s dream and a consumer’s right: how can we make our stuff last longer? Can we go beyond recycling and overcome obsolescence? Impoverished by the afterlife of the industrial revolution, the 21st Century must lead in planetary preservation.

Marcel Den Hollander, of TU Delft, journeys the lasting life of products via a scale of product integrity. Efforts are put into loving and maintaining an item, in its original state, for as long as possible, before any movement down the disintegration scale. Moving downwards involves part upgrades, repairs and repurposing, before being remanufactured and starting over. The point is to maximise value for longer periods of time, activate consumer contribution and push recycling to the last resort.

Let’s take a look at the strategies on the street today:

Peter Opsvik ‘s Tripp Trapp Chair Design Image: https://www.designfather.com/history-tripp-trapp-peter-opsvik-stokke/

Love it

A designer is fisting the air when there is consumer attachment to their design. Attaching ourselves to the experience it provides, usually leads to us taking more care. Giving a damn about how we store it, how we clean it, how we handle it — makes it ours. Look out for brands with enough belief in their product to dish out a long guarantee.The more we maintain it, the more we understand what it is and how it is made. This notion of appreciation connects us to why we own something and focuses the supplier’s attention on maintenance rather than flimsy short love affairs. Take the Norwegian design Tripp Trapp chair — a chair designed to change as we grow from infant to adult. The designer is in it for the long haul.

Repair it

Ever visited a repair cafe? In war against the throwaway culture, efforts and skills are networking globally, to defend the ‘right to repair.’ To many, it doesn’t square up to have no control over something they own. Active consumerism is gathering around collaborative tables and stations — all littered with shared tools and reusable materials. Collective learning and sharing of resources is at the heart of a circular economy — an economy connected to values on the ground. Our thirst to tinker is galvanising the manufacturers into designing for disassembly and reassembly, designing for easy repair and for standardisation.

Ifixit’s Repair Manifesto

The Repair Manifesto puts forth our rights and ideals as capable engineers — challenging the copyright laws in place to stop us getting to know our stuff.

Dutch social enterprise, Fairphone, designs smartphones with ease of repair, extended software support and with the intention of lasting longer than 5 years. They are not alone in building products composed of modular components, easily removable and accessible to everyone, with the tools of the everyday.

Demand it

Coming back to the planetary priorities of the 21st Century, demand is shifting. The climate emergency is creeping out of the abstract for the ‘developed’ world, and is muscling its way into policy. The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals measure human progress, and prioritise the well-being of ‘planet and people’ over ‘GDP.’ Goal 12 commits to ‘Responsible Consumption and Production.’

Sustainable Development Goal 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

The demand for durability has found its listeners. The European Parliament is working to tighten measures on how consumer goods are designed and made — pushing for accessible repair processes, the limitation of fixed components and the prioritisation of standardised interfaces. With shoppers already game, business models have no choice but to switch things up. Ifixit, authors of The Repair Manifesto, publish grading of popular hardware products — examining how fixable goods are designed to be. Demand is shaping supply and the consumers are no longer the bystanders in the story — instead we are redeemed to our rightful position of contributors.

Borrow it

What if you don’t own everything you use? What if your money is spent on the use of the product rather than the physical presence of it? Mass production has nourished a desire to own things, to build a tangible marker of success. Some of our things may serve as momentums but others seem to take up space, gather dust and require insurance!

Tool Libraries, Libraries of Things, rental business models for things like cars and clothing, are all propping up the idea that owning stuff hasn’t delivered eternal happiness. Libraries loan out what you need for a period of time and take it back when you’re done. Large lumpy items like a sewing machine or a drill or a hedge trimmer are not things you use every day. They are also items that some will struggle to buy. Instead of having them out of access and hiding in the garage, why not share their existence with everyone? Our borrowing hub local to Reykjavik, RVK Tool Library, celebrates the stuff already in existence and is determined to circulate it.

The Library of Things, UK (Image:http://jaycover.com) & Reykjavik Tool Library, Iceland

With less needed across the population, and with more repair work happening, this model could curb our harmful habits of mass production and ensure fairer distribution. In the words of Leonard Nimoy:

“the more we share, the more we have.”

Subscribe to it

Another strategy on the streets is the switch from buying to subscribing. Much like the borrowing idea, businesses are moving away from the product-oriented model to the service-oriented model. Access hails over ownership and manufacturers design for long lasting service rather than repeat sales of products. Responsibility falls on the owner of the product — that is the business, not you. You subscribe to use the item, adhere to a contract with a time period and leave the irksome business of maintenance, to them. With no large upfront purchase, access is open to more and it is in the interest of the manufacturer to design for durability. No car manufacturer, in this model, can get away with designing without having an interest in consumption costs, security and how it is disposed of.

The circular economy is anchored by the collaboration of us all. It holds us accountable in restoring and preserving the health of our planet and its people. It meets the challenges of this century with ambition. In essence, we need to meet with the planet and work on loving it, repairing it, demanding the best for it, remembering that we are borrowing from it and subscribe to sharing it. Working on this with our immediate possessions is just good practice.