As a rule, I always buy good quality “stuff” in the belief that it’s worth the extra outlay to have something built to last. The exception to this was a microwave we bought when Jr#1 was born on the mistaken assumption we would need one. Almost 3 years later and with VERY light use, rather predictably, it’s melted.
Now I know it was very cheap (iirc around £30) so I’m not surprised, but now its off to landfill I’m feeling quite rightfully guilty about the whole thing and it raises the question, should manufacturers be allowed to make products of such low quality?

Of course they should, if their customers only want to pay £30 for it. It’s like people who slag off Apple products as overpriced and buy a £300 laptop, and seem quite happy to replace it after two or three years, when a more expensive machine would last a lot longer. My PowerBook’s heading for eight years old now. The only issue I have is that it’s often difficult to get stuff recycled. Back when I was in print and graphics monitors would go on the fritz and were almost impossible to get fixed, I had a beautiful 21″ CRT screen that cost £2000, and when it started to play up after several years I managed to get it repaired, but when it went wrong again a bit later it had to be scrapped as they didn’t support products after five years! A £2k monitor FFS! I couldn’t even find anyone to recycle it after hours on the phone, so it went to landfill. I think now though if you go somewhere like Currys they’re obliged to take the dead one for recycling, so your conscience is salved somewhat.

The world economies survive on churning out rubbish. Governments love this beacuse it earns them tax revenue, despite all the “green” rhetoric.

So don’t feel guilty for taking one or two units of the 100’s of thousands, millions of products that are churned out.

The guilt should be with corporations and governments, but seeing as they have their noses in the trough, forget it!

If you are worried about the environment and want to make a real difference, you’ll have to live like someone in the developing world.

The things we do in this country which are supposedly environmentally sensitive are usually nothing more than expensive stunts which do little or nothing to resolve the issue.

Just forget trying to be green because deep down, no authority in the developed world really gives a damn.

The problem is, you’ve no way of knowing that an expensive one wouldn’t have died similarly.

And the fact that it was cheap means that less resources must have been used in making it 😉

another perspective might be – should people be allowed to throw out something that is working perfectly – ie also take into account the power of marketing and keeping up with the jones. Ever seen the amount of working stuff that ends up at a tip, and have you ever tried getting spares for a 20 year old washing machine (I have, as I come from a make do and mend background – they’re hard to find and bloody expensive – but if you enforced standardised componentry [which would facilitate the concept of repairing]then lots of people would be short of a job …………………..)

End of the day an kitchen appliance is designed to last only 5 years so
buy the cheapest and when it dies recycle it.

I agree with count zero regarding laptops I’ve had Two laptops compared to my daughters
Macbook.
So now bought a Macbook Pro and the whole thing works (different Thread)

Well you should start to buy laptop that cost the price of a mac book, from a brand that is as old as apple. And you’ll soon discover they last you as long as a mac