Do you care about your carbon footprint?

mr chips wrote: »

I figured that with the fridge and washing machine, more modern appliances seem to have a much shorter lifespan than older ones, so allowing for the energy embodied in manufacturing and transporting a new replacement potentially every 3-5 years I decided to replace/repair only when necessary.

+1. I've noticed this in my lifetime. Appliances like fridges and the like lasting shorter periods of time compared to ones from years ago, with each decade the cycle becoming shorter. The fridge the family had when I was growing up lasted 20+ years and two moves. It was still going only the parents thought they should "upgrade". Successive fridges lasted 10, then 8, my current one is 6 and looking ropey already. Washing machines similarly. The older more "analogue" ones lasting much longer. Sure you might have to replace brushes in the motor or even the motor itself but the rest of the workings kept going. I must be on my fourth washing machine at this stage, in nearly every case the main or subsidiary board gave up the ghost. On that score spares were either hard to get or - and this is the kicker - nearly as expensive as a new machine(sometimes more if I paid a bod to install it), so you're encouraged to spend on a new one. Keep that churn going. However my washer drier I got from the folks who bought it in 1975(have the receipt somewhere) and it's still going strong. It has needed me going at it with the hammers and spanners a couple of times(very basic stuff), but drying clothes it still is. My first gas boiler lasted 20 years(and was still working), the next all fancy condenser save money(my arse!) and polar bears one, made it to around 5 before kicking the bucket. Oh and is it just me or am I the only one replacing the new fangled (non fluorescent) bulbs far more often?

In terms of the car, there's a huge amount of energy and fuel consumption that goes into manufacturing and transporting a brand-new car. It's far better for to keep an older machine on the road and maintain it properly, not only in terms of carbon footprint/energy consumption but also from a financial perspective - the depreciation on a much older car is effectively zero.

+1000. I mentioned in another thread hereabouts that a neighbour of mine is into the whole green thing and has looked a bit down on me for keeping a 20 year old car on the road. The same 20 year old car has cost me 200 quid per year for maintenance, does mid high 30's to the gallon and passes NCT emissions testing with ease. In the same period he's bought a new car every 3 years or so, got into hybrids and then electric which really upped the smug. When I point out the manufacturing costs, never mind the environmental costs of many of the rare elements in the batteries he just doesn't get it. And he's not a stupid man. We're constantly bombarded by the consumer culture and that each new purchase will help the trees and such, so I'm not surprised he and so many fall for this. The sheer criminal waste is astounding. I can bring you to any number of big yards around Dublin(and beyond) chock full of "old" cars over 10 years old. Cars that are essentially worthless(and makes depreciation very stark. Like 800 quid for a Merc that was 65,000 new). And most of the car will end up as waste beyond the bare metal that will end up going back into the system.

Recently I was in and out of hospital with a relative and the waste even there was astonishing. Sealed medical packs for bloods or whatever, opened up, one or two items used, the rest goes into the bin. Pretty much anything plastic you see in that environment is binward bound.

Until we tackle the consumer culture and our relatively recent need for the dopamine hit of new [insert object here], any talk of environmental considerations will be just lip service. I can't see it happening any time soon though. It's not ordinary folks to blame, its the manufacturers who of course need to keep the churn going. It's the retail sector that requires it. It's the lending institutions who sell "cheap" loans and credit. It's the governments and tax depts. that rely on this churn for tax returns and as indicators of a good economy. Until we change that narrative nothing else will change. To do that will require a lot of changes. The drive to grow populations for one. Ireland has a growing population but look at Europe where the growth is in the negative and how governments are trying to encourage more kids, or failing that importing more people by immigration. IMHO we need to reduce the world's population to one that is sustainable without the consumerist machine or less of it. When I was born the world's population was just over 3 billion, today it's over 7.5 billion. I can't recall the sky falling in when it was the lower figure.