Is ending better than mending?

Environmentalists today are campaigning for "reuse, reduce and recycle" in a bid to save the world, but as a nation we may have just adopted ‘replace’ as our mantra. Whether it is big stuff like household goods, cars, laptops or smaller items like disposable nappies, we are constantly replacing things in our life with little regard for our environmental woes or financial situation.

The reasons for our becoming a throwaway society are manifold (as in ‘many’ and not of the exhaust type!). In a quest for better living standards, we wish to own the latest equipment and gadgets. Once new items are acquired, short-term euphoria is experienced until a new model in the market makes our possessions redundant and outmoded. There is then a scramble to dispose of these unwanted things to second-hand shops and scrimp, save or borrow to buy the latest ‘toys’. I have lost count of the people I know who own the latest iPhone, iPad and PS9 (or whatever version they’re up to now!).

The markets are also flooded with cheap, ‘for single use only’ commodities that are more in demand than high priced quality items. Mind boggling (for me any way!) mobile ‘phone accessories that change the look of your handset in the blink of an eye, shoes that quickly come apart at seams, cheap t-shirts that lose colour and shape after a single wash, and wrist watches that stop telling time before three months are over and yet there is a rush to buy more and more until our houses, cupboards and garages seem to be overflowing with goods that are more in quantity and less in value.

It would have been a different matter if convenience and better living standards were the only reason behind the burgeoning use of disposable items. With changing times, our values and norms have also shifted shape. There is intense competition and rivalry among the more affluent for becoming society's trend setters. The trickledown effect of this tendency has played havoc on the middle-class strata.

People are working long arduous hours to earn more and more money so that they can keep up with Jones’ and Smiths, or else lose face. This money is being spent to replace personal use items, electronic gadgets, household stuff and, of course, cars at an alarming rate. It no longer matters if they are perfectly functional, what matters is that there is a new model of car available on the market, with a lot more gadgets to offer.

A quick word about such gadgets though…the more toys your car comes with, the more things can go wrong. The last time I bought a washing machine the sales guy tried to steer me towards one that had so many additional features it made me dizzy. But I didn’t want my washing machine to do the cooking, ironing and hoovering, I just wanted it to wash my clothes! So I firmly stood my ground and bought one at half the cost my commissioned salesman had intended me to.

The urge to consume is so powerful that we actually judge other people based on how much they consume. Think about it: many value someone more who purchases a new expensive car every three years than someone who keeps the same sturdy car for ten years or more. We are judged by what we buy, how much we consume, and not by how adept we are using what we have.

Many of these products aren't simply disposable because their nature requires them to be though, they are disposable because they are designed to be so you can only use them for a short term before you purchase them again.

The current abundance of choice coupled with the ease with which things are discarded as soon as they lose their newness has given rise to intense consumerism in our society with simplicity and gratification being its first victims. Never mind the length of time it takes me to go shopping now, browsing at the different choices of the same product readily available! I have even been known to enter the supermarket in daylight hours and not venture out again until dark! It is indeed a sad reflection of our times as a society that lives in throes of consumerism is not able to sustain its values and traditions for long.

So is ending better than mending?

Well, from my industry's perspective it can be. It is often cheaper for the customer to replace parts rather than repair them. For example, replacing electronic wing mirrors, light units and some exhaust sections will usually cost half as much as it would do repairing them. But within our own environmental policy, we also try to use second-hand parts, mostly for customers with older cars who can’t necessarily afford the new replacement engine or gearbox that’s just given up on them. Breaker yards are so much more professional these days than the intimidating dirty and untidy backyard they used to be. And it is often easier to use the many national parts supply networks available on t’internet rather than take fruitless trips trudging around a local breaker yard. All their parts come with some sort of warranty and, with a little conversation about age, mileage and history of the vehicle that the sourced part has come from, ta-da! you suddenly have your perfectly good replacement part at often over half the cost of a new one.

However, there is nothing I take more pride in than watching my boys in the workshop going back to basics. By this I mean watching them diagnose a really complicated running fault, where our latest diagnostic equipment may say one thing, but their instincts and experience say another. I consider myself very fortunate to have the team I work with at MECA. Whether replace or repair, they are always right.