THE THROWAWAY SOCIETY: ORIGINS, CAUSES, CONSEQUENCES

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THE THROWAWAY SOCIETY ORIGINS, CAUSES,
CONSEQUENCES

• Sheffield Hallam University, 18th March 2008

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WORKSHOP SUMMARY

• Become a 'network of networks' (create sector
  groups)
• Utilise synergy with external groups (provide web
  resource)
• Broaden the stakeholder base (promote wikispace,
  life span calculator, BBC Green Room)
• Engage in cutting edge / blue sky thinking
• Stay relevant to industry
• Develop a fundraising consortium

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NETWORK ON PRODUCT LIFE SPANS - SECTOR GROUPS

• 1 ECONOMIC DRIVERS
• 2 WASTE REDUCTION (waste sector and local
  authorities)
• 3 DESIGNERS
• 4 ENTREPRENEURS AND OPPORTUNITIES (ideas,
  business proposals)
• 5 BEHAVIOURAL CHANGE (includes consumer
  psychology / marketing)
• 6 STRATEGY AND POLICY (includes industry and
  government)
• 7 EVIDENCE BASE (technical data, LCA /
  footprinting, use of chemicals)
• 8 PRODUCTS
• A) VEHICLES
• B) HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES / CONSUMER ELECTRONICS
• C) FURNITURE
• D) CARPETS AND FLOOR COVERINGS
• E) CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR

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LAUNCH OF NEW WIKISPACE

• Productlife wiki
• Discussion forum
• Raise issues
• Ask questions
• Exchange experiences
• Propose policies
• Case studies
• Good practice
• Bad practice

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THE FUTURE OF THE THROWAWAY SOCIETY

• Dr. Tim Cooper
• Centre for Sustainable Consumption
• Sheffield Hallam University

The Throwaway Society Origins, Causes and
Consequences Sheffield, 18th March 2008
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DOES THE THROWAWAY SOCIETY HAVE A FUTURE?

• WWF

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NO RESURRECTION OR AFTER-LIFE HERE
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THROWAWAY SOCIETYCRISIS, WHAT CRISIS?
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SLOW GROWTH GRIM FUTURE?
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NOTHING NEW UNDER THE SUN?

• If what had filled the consumer market yesterday
  could only be made obsolete today, that whole
  market would be again available tomorrow. Paul
  Mazur, 1928
• People would turn in their used and obsolete
  goods to certain government agencies. Ending the
  Depression through Planned Obsolescence, Bernard
  London, 1932

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SCHUMACHER'S WISDOM

• "From an economic point of view, the central
  concept of wisdom is permanence. Nothing makes
  economic sense unless its continuance for a long
  time can be projected without running into
  absurdities. There can be 'growth' towards a
  limited objective, but there cannot be unlimited,
  generalised growth."
• Small is Beautiful

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BUT MAYBE THE PUBLIC WANT SLOWER CONSUMPTION

• The most materially affluent generation that
  has ever lived seems to be growing more aware of
  the environmental cost. 86 support the idea that
  material consumption must reduce.
• Future Leaders Survey, UCAS/Forum for the Future,
  2008

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GREEN MEANS EFFICIENT?
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BUT WHERE DO THOSE FINANCIAL SAVING S END UP

• Rebounding back into more stuff
• or invested in a fewer/better strategy?

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DURABILITY THE MISSING LINK
ECO-EFFICIENCY more productive use of materials
and energy
Green growth
OUTCOMES
DR I VERS
Efficiency
INCREASED PRODUCT LIFE SPANS
Sustainable consumption
Sufficiency
SLOW CONSUMPTION reduced throughput of products
and services
Recession
Cooper, T. (2005) Slower Consumption, Journal of
Industrial Ecology
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BUT ENDING PREMATURE OBSOLESCENCE WONT BE EASY

• Technological
• How far can upgradeability be taken?
• Economic
• How much difference would fiscal measures make?
• Psychological
• Do I have to love all of my products?
• Socio-cultural
• They still talk about me in that shirt.

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WASTE REDUCTION?
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AN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE WHAT THEN MUST WE DO?

• Raise product life profile in policy debate
• Broaden product policy beyond energy efficiency
  and recyclability
• Durability not yet associated with sustainability
• Link waste with sustainable consumption
• Undertake more research into product life
• Still too little firm data on life spans
• Engage in LCA and carbon footprint debates
• Understand consumer behaviour better

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POLITICAL CONSUMERISM

• "Most of us do not give a lot of conscious
  though to what can be called the politics of the
  product."
• Michelle Micheletti, Political Virtue and Shopping

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DEFRA MARKET SEGMENTATION
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AN ALTERNATIVE FUTURE PRO-ENVIRONMENTAL
BEHAVIOUR?
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CONSUMERS - WILLING?
ABLE?

• Give importance to sustainable lifestyles
• Avoid fast fashion
• Sacrifice convenience of disposability
• Share/lease rather than own
• Maintain carefully
• Avoid premature disposal

• Design products for durability
• Identifiable life spans
• Make faults diagnosis / repair easy
• Give right price signals
• Create culture of permanence

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GET INDUSTRY ON BOARD
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DURABLES / SEMI-DURABLES

• How can we promote life span labelling?
• Can repair and maintenance ever be revived?

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DURABLES SUBJECT TO FASHION

• Would my eyes look good in these?
• Is there a future for fast fashion?

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LOW QUALITY PRODUCTS

• Can anything be too cheap?

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DISPOSABLES

• Time to end consumer sovereignty?

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FOLLOWING NATURES ECONOMY

• Recycling isnt enough
• Thinking ecologically means thinking about the
  Long Now
• A culture of permanence
• Join the wiki
• More information, more debate, more action!

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LONG-TERM RESPONSIBILITY

• 'Now' "the period in which people feel they
  live and act and have responsibility."
• "In the fashion and commercial domains a
  discounted approach to the future is necessary to
  maintain the customary swift turnover."
• Stewart Brand, The Long Now Foundation

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CULTURE OF PERMANENCE

• "A way of life than can endure through countless
  generations."
• Alan Durning, How Much is Enough