Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
life i.e. when the need for such a product ceases. Third, when the product becomes
obsolete. Fourth, end of life can be triggered due to economic or legal reasons.
Lastly, the consumer may just not want it anymore. For one reason or another,
when the product turns to waste, the productive purpose of all energy and materials
invested in producing the good also fades out.
Intrinsic durability and designs for longer product life spans are obvious strate-
gies for enhanced resource productivity. The physical cost of a product is an emer-
gent property that needs to be measured throughout its manufacturing history not
just in relation to its current properties. This is because energy and materials pro-
ductivity is only fully understood when one considers the whole product lifecycle,
from raw materials extraction, assembly, distribution, use and disposal.
Designing for longevity means using materials of the highest quality, constructed
robustly and reliably with precision assembly and easy disassembly, repair and spare
parts substitution (Cramer, 1997). Aesthetics is also an important issue. Owning
beautiful things translates into social prestige. Such acquisitions are considered
investments rather than expenditures, tending to saturate su
ciency and conserve
value after re-sale. They don't become old but antique. They are subsequently ex-
pensive to manufacture seeing as they don't conform to the materialistic “throwaway
society”. Therefore, there is room for convincing consumers that the “recycled” or
“used” terms need not be synonyms of lower quality.
Reflection 2: Fashion and its promotion induce mass resource consumption.
Sustainable fashion and its marketing is a huge challenge.
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(Allwood et al., 2006).
Reflection 3: A materialistic world view strongly favours the “throwaway so-
ciety”. And as long as economic growth is supported by consumption instead of
the use of goods, society will be continuously prone to exponential growth before
eventually collapsing. Research in disassembly and reuse is therefore as important
as any other new technology because in the end whilst technology can change fast it
must be adapted to the man-machine interface. However, the physical dimensions
and limitations of human beings do not evolve so quickly (OECD -Butlin (1982);
Reisch (2001); Ax (2001)).
Reflection 4: Taxing raw materials and energy consumption (in terms of en-
tropy production or better exergy destruction) instead of taxing labour would in-
crease employment opportunities in repair and maintenance, disfavouring complete
replacement. Such a policy would also decrease the environmental costs of pro-
ducing, manufacturing and transporting goods seeing as repair and maintenance is
always local, whilst production and manufacturing may well be global. Local mar-
kets provide local employment, reduces material consumption and environmental
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For more information, visit http : ==moreintelligentlife:com=content=lifestyle=intelligent
life=scepticalshoppersustainablefashion. Accessed Dec. 2013.
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