SLOWER CONSUMPTIONREFLECTIONS ON PRODUCT LIFE SPANS AND THE “THROWAWAY SOCIETY”

Dan Fancher presents Tim Cooper’s

TIM COOPERWEEE, WEEE, WEEE, WEEE, all the way home? An evaluation of proposed electrical and electronic waste legislation

The durability of consumer durables

Challenging the ‘refuse revolution’: war, waste and the rediscovery of recycling, 1900–50

Recycling Modernity: Waste and Environmental History

Professor in the College of Art & Design and Built Environment, School of Architecture Design and the Built Environment: Sustainable Design and Consumption

Economist with a Ph. D from Sheffield Hallam University

Advisor to: the Research Council of Norway, the Irish Environmental Protection Agency, the Belgium Federal Science Policy Office, the House of Commons Environment Committee

THE ISSUEMunicipal waste in industrialized countries has been increasing at around the same rate as economic growth, around 40% over the past 30 years.

The “Throwaway Society”

E-SCOPE SURVEYDo Products last long enough?

45% said no50% said yes5% expressed no opinion

10% believe that refrigerators and freezers, hi-fis and stereos, telephones, and home and garden tools should last at least 20 years.

1/3 products disposed of are actually broken and 1/3 of those could have been repaired.

The study concluded that most people do not adopt a consistent approach toward product life spans

WHAT IS NEEDED“The assumption of nonsaturation which is at the core of economic theory must be challenged”

This requires a shift from a linear economy to a circular economy so that inputs of virgin raw material and energy and outputs in the form of waste requiring disposal decline

REDEFINING PRODUCTS

LIFE CYCLE ASSESSMENT

PRODUCT LIFESPANS AND SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION

SLOWING THINGS DOWN

CITATIONS

Pictures

http://www.greenwisebusiness.co.uk/files/images/newsimg_tim_cooper_0253.jpg?w=300&h=250

http://assets.motherboard.tv/post_images/assets/000/009/869/clock_large.jpg?1308691076

http://eweb.furman.edu/~ballen/slow/logo1.jpg

http://www.anadolujet.com/images/skylife/4-2012/3143/129_3143yavas_sehir_18.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_BIP0gnIZB3s/SiYu3KzUmyI/AAAAAAAAAFI/o-S0vDkYLFw/s400/Birt_mouthful.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/HP-Deskjet-Printer-CH340A-B1H/dp/B003YGZIY0/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1350862200&sr=8-3&keywords=hp+printer

http://www.amazon.com/HP-CH562WN-140-Tri-Color-Cartridge/dp/B003H2AZJE/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_y

http://www.amazon.com/HP-CH561WN-140-Ink-Cartridge-Black/dp/B003H2GBM4/ref=pd_bxgy_e_img_y

http://www.xomoxnyc.com/wp-content/uploads/FEAT-IMGsm-Apple-Planned-Obsolescence.jpg

http://www.solidworks.com/sustainability/docs/LCA_graphic_for_web.jpg

http://www.brad.ac.uk/ten-plus-one/media/TENPLUSONE/Images/linear-circular-economy.jpg

http://vermonttimberworks.com/Web-Photos/Home-Page-Photos/hand-crafted-timber-frame-hi.jpg

Text

Cooper, T. (2005). Slower Consumption Reflections on Product Life Spans and the “Throwaway Society.” Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(1-2), 51–67. doi:10.1162/1088198054084671

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