Why are people wasteful?

[lxskllr]

It's probably a combination of lazy consumers, and lazy manufacturers. Things aren't really built to be fixed anymore. When a repair costs 50% or more of the replacement value, it's hard to justify it. People have gotten into that mindset, so when something goes wrong they assume it isn't worth trying to fix, even though it may be quite easy in that particular case.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
It's probably a combination of lazy consumers, and lazy manufacturers. Things aren't really built to be fixed anymore. When a repair costs 50% or more of the replacement value, it's hard to justify it. People have gotten into that mindset, so when something goes wrong they assume it isn't worth trying to fix, even though it may be quite easy in that particular case.

lol yeah, some things are a real pain to even get open without breaking it more. I think sometimes they even make it on purpose so you can't fix it.

For example look at TVs. Why can't they make standard parts like computers have standard parts (to some extent) so if the "motherboard" dies you buy a new one fit it in, and boom, TV works. The circuit boards in most electronics are usually not even documented or have any spares available. For example recently my $100 fridge broke. I narrowed it down to something in the circuit board (which is just a PSU I think). But I can't find any info on that circuit board or where to get a replacement. They simply don't make any replacements for stuff like that.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Yesterday, my dad and I went scrapping for metal and instead found a 1920s record player in the garbage.

When we were putting it in our truck, a guy comes out and ask us if I want a broken lawn mower. Well I was like sure I'll take it thinking it was blown or something.

Well the broke part was actually a spark plug missing. A new spark plug and it started right up. Now I undertsand some people throw away old mowers but this is a craftsman 6.5HP Mulcher that looks like it was slightly used. No bent blades or anything.

Why do people throw good stuff like this out for really no good reason.

The $240 mower was fixed with a $4 spark plug.....

Probably gave you his neighbor's he was tired of hearing.

 

[Andrew1990]

Originally posted by: alkemyst

Originally posted by: Andrew1990
Yesterday, my dad and I went scrapping for metal and instead found a 1920s record player in the garbage.

When we were putting it in our truck, a guy comes out and ask us if I want a broken lawn mower. Well I was like sure I'll take it thinking it was blown or something.

Well the broke part was actually a spark plug missing. A new spark plug and it started right up. Now I undertsand some people throw away old mowers but this is a craftsman 6.5HP Mulcher that looks like it was slightly used. No bent blades or anything.

Why do people throw good stuff like this out for really no good reason.

The $240 mower was fixed with a $4 spark plug.....

Probably gave you his neighbor's he was tired of hearing.

Well, he opened up his garage door, walked out with it and a couple peices of scrap steel and said here you go.

Too bad steel is going down in price this month, it is at $100 a ton now but will probably hit $60 a ton is a week or two.

 

[frostedflakes]

Originally posted by: lxskllr
It's probably a combination of lazy consumers, and lazy manufacturers. Things aren't really built to be fixed anymore. When a repair costs 50% or more of the replacement value, it's hard to justify it. People have gotten into that mindset, so when something goes wrong they assume it isn't worth trying to fix, even though it may be quite easy in that particular case.

I can understand that, but for example I mentioned printers earlier. In some cases it may be cheaper to buy a new printer than replacement ink or toner, but I'd rather spend a bit more to replace the toner than toss an otherwise functional printer and have it taking up space in a landfill. Unfortunately I don't think a lot of people really think like this, though.

And yeah, some stuff can be a major pain to fix. I had the screen on my iPod Nano go out and ended up buying a replacement LCD on eBay to fix it myself. The install is far from perfect (screen is a little crooked, it was difficult to get it back in there straight), but oh well, hopefully it will allow me to get a few more years of use out of my MP3 player. I really had no desire to replace it because it does everything I need it to.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes

I can understand that, but for example I mentioned printers earlier. In some cases it may be cheaper to buy a new printer than replacement ink or toner, but I'd rather spend a bit more to replace the toner than toss an otherwise functional printer and have it taking up space in a landfill. Unfortunately I don't think a lot of people really think like this, though.

Ahh, printers are one of my big pet peeves. Ink costs for these things are bullshit. I'd rather pay $800 for a printer with easily fixable parts, and have ink cost what it's really worth.

 

[arrfep]

I dispatch for an electronics/appliance retailer that pretty much owns the market on high-end stuff in our area. You would not believe the stuff people have us junk when they're getting new items. Best part is that we can buy any of the things from the store (since otherwise we'd sell them to a scrapper) for $19 a piece. Got my mom a nearly new set of Whirlpool front loaders for under $40. When you have income that's disposable, why wouldn't you dispose of everything else?

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: frostedflakes

I can understand that, but for example I mentioned printers earlier. In some cases it may be cheaper to buy a new printer than replacement ink or toner, but I'd rather spend a bit more to replace the toner than toss an otherwise functional printer and have it taking up space in a landfill. Unfortunately I don't think a lot of people really think like this, though.

Ahh, printers are one of my big pet peeves. Ink costs for these things are bullshit. I'd rather pay $800 for a printer with easily fixable parts, and have ink cost what it's really worth.

I want a printer with quart jars for ink.

Back to the OP, I love it when I can find something for nothing or near nothing and fix it.

I bought a 12" band saw for $50 off CL because the people I bought it from didn't know how to adjust it. That blade must have wandered all over the place. No wonder they wanted to get rid of that piece of junk

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: frostedflakes

I can understand that, but for example I mentioned printers earlier. In some cases it may be cheaper to buy a new printer than replacement ink or toner, but I'd rather spend a bit more to replace the toner than toss an otherwise functional printer and have it taking up space in a landfill. Unfortunately I don't think a lot of people really think like this, though.

Ahh, printers are one of my big pet peeves. Ink costs for these things are bullshit. I'd rather pay $800 for a printer with easily fixable parts, and have ink cost what it's really worth.

Yep, I swear by laser printers now. I will never buy another bubblejet again. I rather pay more for the toner but have it last longer and be cheaper in the long run.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel


Yep, I swear by laser printers now. I will never buy another bubblejet again. I rather pay more for the toner but have it last longer and be cheaper in the long run.

Can a laser do an ok job on photos? I'm not a big photography buff, so I'm not after perfection, but I'd like it to look good in a frame. Can I get a Joe homeowner quality print from a color laser?

 

[Red Squirrel]

Originally posted by: lxskllr

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel


Yep, I swear by laser printers now. I will never buy another bubblejet again. I rather pay more for the toner but have it last longer and be cheaper in the long run.

Can a laser do an ok job on photos? I'm not a big photography buff, so I'm not after perfection, but I'd like it to look good in a frame. Can I get a Joe homeowner quality print from a color laser?

I've seen the results of a color laser and it's quite nice. It's basically magazine quality, maybe better. bubblejets produce very nice photos for maybe the first 10 ones you print in it's life, then they start to get crappy not to mention it's almost 1 cartrige per photo. So for photos best bet is going to like walmart or something and getting them done, if you want the real kodak paper.

edit: had said laser when I meant to say bubblejet

 

[Andrew1990]

Well time to throw this thing up on craigslist.

OP edited with pic of this nice mower.

 

[lokiju]

I can understand both sides of it.

I've recently cleaned out my garage and all my rooms and closets and my office and I've literally had stacks and stacks of boxes and shit put out at the curb each week for the past month or so.

After awhile, you just hold onto so much shit that it doesn't make sense anymore to do so. I donated some clothes I've had for 15 years and haven't worn in at least 5 years.

I threw out pci modem cards that I've had since the 90's, etc, etc, etc.

But on the flip side my wifes co-worker was going to throw away a nice toro self propelled mower because the self propelled function didn't work and the pull cord cable ripped about halfway down the length. I was able to fix the self propelled function and retie the pull handle on the string lower down and it's been running strong for two year now.

 

[lxskllr]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel

I've seen the results of a color laser and it's quite nice. It's basically magazine quality, maybe better. Lasers produce very nice photos for maybe the first 10 ones you print in it's life, then they start to get crappy not to mention it's almost 1 cartrige per photo. So for photos best bet is going to like walmart or something and getting them done, if you want the real kodak paper.

Oh, that's a lot of toner. Thanks for the insight. It's an idea I've played with for awhile, but never did formal research. I don't do much printing, so a laser's better for shelf life. I do like to do the occasional picture for mom, so an inkjet's better for that. Maybe I will just go to the photo shop when I need a picture. My Canon S820 printed great pictures until the heads got borked from lack of use :^/


Edit:
That's a nice looking mower Andrew. You certainly can't beat the price :^)

 

[caddlad]

Originally posted by: frostedflakes
I've never really understood this either. For example I've heard of people just tossing a computer and buying a new one when it gets too infected with spyware and other crap. I also know quite a few who buy a new printer when ink or toner runs out, because it's cheaper than purchasing replacement cartridges.

I'll be getting two of these this week from my SIL. The downside is that they are Dells.
But free is free and free is good. Or at least good enough.

 

[gorcorps]

I got a nice vacuum from somebody who thought it was broken beyond repair. Turns out the belt that turns the brushes on the bottom fell off... and that was it. I slipped the belt back on and it's been doing well ever since.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: RedSquirrel
I've noticed this too. Sadly we live in a world where it's often cheaper to buy new then to fix so when something breaks most people just go and buy a new one. There are exceptions though, if it's something silly like a mower with a missing spark plug.

Actually, I think we live in a world where it's too expensive to have someone else do simple repairs, and too many people lack the ability/time/desire to discover that they can fix something themselves.

However, there's another related issue: you don't necessarily replace everything you throw out on a 1 to 1 basis. I used to be one of the worst packrats imaginable. For example, we purchased 4 window fans for our bedrooms in my old home. Something happened to one - it fell out of a window or something & broke. But I recall thinking "wow, usually it's the motor that goes bad on fans. I'll just hang on to this fan & if one of the motors burns out on one of the other fans, I'll have a replacement. "

Pretty soon, my basement was filled with fixable items, or items that I'd use for parts. I had my own little scrap yard. In the long run, it just wasn't worth it. I finally cleaned all that stuff out of the basement. And, I never missed any of it. Not that old habits are easy to break - just a couple weeks ago, our washing machine died. I've replaced parts on it at least a dozen times. It was over 20 years old. It's still sitting outside, waiting to go to the dump. But, before it goes, I'm stripping a handful of particular parts out of it - parts that I "know" I'll need in the future. Transmission coupling, dog ears (practically brand new), and while I'm at it, I'll take out a bunch of screws/bolts & toss them in my miscellaneous screw/bolt/nut box. It's amazing how often I use a couple items from that box (weekly.)

Haha I'm the same way. I feel bad when I throw something out and try to find options like "maybe I can use this later". Often I end up keeping stuff only to throw it out later.

While recycling has come a long way, it always needs to improve, soon throwing stuff out wont be as much of a waste.

This same syndrome is why I have about a half-million different old cords and cables stored away in odd places.

ZV

 

[cherrytwist]

Originally posted by: gorcorps
I got a nice vacuum from somebody who thought it was broken beyond repair. Turns out the belt that turns the brushes on the bottom fell off... and that was it. I slipped the belt back on and it's been doing well ever since.

Our landlord left a $200 retail vacuum on the curb as they left (he and his wife relocated). It was like new, fired up when I plugged it in. We had that thing for about 5 years.