<
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/oct/01/appliances-were-once-built-to-last-now-theyre-built-to-break-how-do-we-fix-it>
"Sometimes the smallest things get in the way of repairing a broken appliance.
“There might be one screw that the company owns the copyright to, so you can’t
buy it anywhere,” says Rowan Barr.
Barr runs a repair cafe at Lilydale Lake in Melbourne, one of 112 predominantly
volunteer-run centres across Australia. She says proprietary tools are a
“bugbear” for skilled repairers – who might have 12 different screwdrivers and
still not be able take apart a particular brand of vacuum cleaner to fix it.
It is hard to fix things in Australia. Manufacturers restrict access to spare
parts and repair manuals and make products so they need to be replaced rather
than repaired.
“Things used to be built to last, and now they’re built to break with short
lifespans,” Barr says. “It’s designed that way so you will just buy new.”
Most Australians share the frustration, according to a national survey and
research run by the independent Consumer Policy Research Centre.
“People want to repair their products, they want to keep what they have for
longer, and they’re struggling to do so,” says Erin Turner, the centre’s chief
executive.
“These are hip-pocket issues, but they’re also environmental issues. People
deeply, deeply care about them.”
Overall, the survey found 85% of Australians wanted to know the expected
lifespan of an appliance before they bought it. The vast majority backed the
idea of a durability and repairability label to help compare different
products.
“People want really good, clear information,” Turner says. “Particularly they
want answers to: how long will this product last? And can I fix it if it
breaks?”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
