Part 2: Amen but in this day and age are there any left?

So, in the first Article “Part 1” we talked about the throw away mentality of our society in regards to relationships. Here in “Part 2” we are going to cover the Environmental aspect of a throw away society.

When we are discussing the mentality of our society that take us down the road of being a throw away society. several aspects lead to a weakened societal back bone, and a destructive relationship with our natural environment.

The First being the actual fair market cost of the constant demand to replace rather than repair the items we use in our everyday life in this society.  When manufactures and people put having the newest and greatest thing ahead of the actual toll it takes on the environment to produce the raw materials and provide a place to dispose of the unit we don’t want to fix. But instead throw away and replace. The true cost is far greater on the local communities, and the back bone of the supply chain. While, yes repairing or fixing items would not have as much of a financial boon for the executives that run these companies that make these products. I would argue that it provides a long term, local cost factor and savings avenue to repair or fix an item instead of being part of the “throw Away Society.”

Then we have the massive environmental impact from the steady stream of waste. We have a sever issue with the constant rate of disposal of items that in fact are very repairable or fixable. These items clog up our waste stream, fill our landfills, and in a lot of cases pollute the world and communities in which we live. When we are considering whether to fix or replace an item we need to consider all the aspects of how our decision effects our world . Not only today but in the long run.

The constant demand for NEW raw materials puts a steady drain on the natural world. Now some would argue that this creates jobs, and that helps the economy. I would argue that those jobs would be better used as skilled labor to repair, re-purpose, and re-manufacture the items from their existing state into items that are diverted from the waste stream by actually fixing or repairing them. The damage done to the environment by the constant demand for the nessessarry raw materials to make new items to replace those thrown away when they develop an issue or problem has untold long term impact.

At GTKYF Foundation Inc, we are actively involved in “Re- Tooling” and teaching old world trades and skills to make a way to continue to repair those items that are in need of being “fixed”.

We are also strong supporters of the “right to repair” movement, and laws guaranteeing end users the right to repair items they own.  These type of laws are fought by the manufacturers as they want to create items that become obsolete in a short time frame and then not provide access or materials to actual repair the items back into use. They make more profits selling the newest and greatest item, and not near as much money in selling the parts to fix what is broke.

So in closing I would like to challenge each of you to consider your attitude and thoughts in relation to throwing away or fixing the relationships, and environmental world in your community.

Farmers Thoughts by Ethan The Farmer