I have recently found myself, in conversation with friends, making frequent references to the “tough economy” plus took a look at how possibly it is now time for a seachange in our ways of thinking as consumers. Since then, I have begun to detect signs that this might not be as painless a transformation as I had hoped for. said what I said before and then thought on it some more and arrived at the realization that our Western economic structure and out natural inclinations are against us in any such endeavour.

I expect any real cynic probably will pronounce that I should have deduced that from the outset but I am now and again just too guilty of being idealistic. I certainly hoped that with the need to tighten our belts that we would all start to find ways to do without the shimmering and new and be content (at least for the shorter term) with that which we already have. I was thinking that now would be an ideal time for a rebirth of the notion of maintenance over replacement, but then again, maybe not.

Truly, you know it is a hard sell when even your own government is against you – albeit inadvertently. I have always had a problem with the fact that with many consumer electronics so often it really is less costly to replace something before maintaining what you already own. A while ago I needed to replace the installed battery in my electric beard trimmer. The short of it is that any estimate I got on it would see me paying at least as much to replace permanent battery as it would have cost for the latest model of that brand of trimmer. I ended up going and buying the new model and recycling the old one – but only because they could not guarantee a very long lifespan on the old one if I got the battery replaced. that was frustrating. Another example of this is with DVD players and CD players; If your player should die on you, then you may find that the cost of repairs may possibly be as little as a few dollars (say for something like just a faulty disc loading mechanism), which is great, or it might set you back about as much as a new player would (if we are talking about more internal issues). Honestly,who would not want to go and get a new player for the same expense, especially if it might happen to include extra bells and whistles and a shiny new warranty to boot? I have also championed the preservation of your trusted household appliances whenever possible, but when I start hearing folks grumble that they can get a brand new appliance for just a little more than the price of a few needed appliance replacement parts, I am not flabbergasted that they could choose to go the replacement route. I have read complaints on assorted kitchen appliance forums from individuals who have discovered to their consternation that the cost of the rival crock pot parts (such as a replacement lid or insert) that they need would probably end up costing them not far off from half the cost of that original crockpot. Ouch. When the issue of cost is a wash in the equation then most folks will go for the new if for no other reason than we lack discipline on such issues, even once we know the benefits to the environment of following the mantra of ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’. I guess it is just a somewhat fuzzy concept in the back of our brains for the majority of us. Now we have this latest attempt by the US Federal Government to kick start consumer spending by introducing its recent ‘cash for clunkers’ program which is encouraging Americans to get rid of their older car for a shiny new one. Now it could be that a large amount of the trade-ins are in reality near the end of their days of utility, but I would not be astonished to find out that a number of still good automobiles got traded-in along the way. Not amazed at all. Well, at some time in the near future I truly do expect this debate to take on a whole new feeling of urgency, yet only time will tell…

One’s decision to retain or replace is not an easy one – even in these demanding economic times.

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