d to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As From the middle of last century until today we have become the "throw away society". Buzz words like "disposable" and "one-use" have been commonplace. Where we used to "make do and mend" in the war years we now simply replace items that are no longer functioning or are no longer wanted. Now this is great if we have an everlasting supply of clean energy to make replacement goods and bottomless land fill sites. But we have neither.

In poorer countries this problem is negligible as most spending goes on food and essential items, leaving very little to be thrown away. More affluent societies, however, are at last beginning to wake up to the fact that the throw away lifestyle is not sustainable.

How did we get here? Several factors have conspired to bring about our disposable disposition. The main one is affluence. As western societies became richer, the demand for goods rose. Also, our salaries rose. Manufacturing needed to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As a

t are no longer functioning or are no longer wanted. Now this is great if we have an everlasting supply of clean energy to make replacement goods and bottomless land fill sites. But we have neither.

In poorer countries this problem is negligible as most spending goes on food and essential items, leaving very little to be thrown away. More affluent societies, however, are at last beginning to wake up to the fact that the throw away lifestyle is not sustainable.

How did we get here? Several factors have conspired to bring about our disposable disposition. The main one is affluence. As western societies became richer, the demand for goods rose. Also, our salaries rose. Manufacturing needed to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As

em is negligible as most spending goes on food and essential items, leaving very little to be thrown away. More affluent societies, however, are at last beginning to wake up to the fact that the throw away lifestyle is not sustainable.

How did we get here? Several factors have conspired to bring about our disposable disposition. The main one is affluence. As western societies became richer, the demand for goods rose. Also, our salaries rose. Manufacturing needed to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As

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How did we get here? Several factors have conspired to bring about our disposable disposition. The main one is affluence. As western societies became richer, the demand for goods rose. Also, our salaries rose. Manufacturing needed to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As

d to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As a result, the factories were located in poorer states at increasing distances from the end user. Electrical and mechanical goods were made with ever fewer serviceable parts to the point where some goods these days are totally sealed and repair is just not possible.

In days gone by a factory would produce finish goods and do a good side business in supplying parts to customers or repair shops. In affluent countries those days are gone taking with them the watch repairer, the radio (and tv) repair man, the cobbler etc etc. Even replacing the battery in an electric wrist watch is often virtually impossible.

Many authorities around the world are now trying to put the brakes on this trend and even trying to reverse it. They are asking for products to be designed to allow repair and parts replacement. In some areas - take Europe for example - they are introducing legislation that will force companies to take back (or at le