Overconsumption is so much 2019. Totally out, I read recently in an authoritative magazine on fashion trends. Here we are in the era of responsible consumption.
Everyone is for virtue, but admit that we often run up against reality. An ink cartridge more expensive than a new printer, an impossible-to-repair microwave, a sticky non-stick pan, an office chair whose faux leather is crumbling…
Each Quebecer generates 710 kg (1,565 lb) of waste per year, according to Recyc-Québec’s most recent report, published in 2020. This is the equivalent of five or six large stainless steel refrigerators. And imagine, this is just the waste sent to the landfill or incinerator. The contents of our recycling and compost bins are not included in the statistics.
Among the hard to avoid waste are also tons of objects – small appliances, tools, toys – that could have been found elsewhere than on the curb waiting for a truck. But which have been put in the trash because of overconsumption, our ignorance of maintenance, repair, reuse and recycling. It is not ideal. Neither for the planet nor for our wallet.
This is where the new guide 100 tips to make your household appliances last, created by the magazine team Protect yourself and Recyc-Quebec, becomes interesting.
Sold in paper and electronic versions, it provides advice on how to shop smart and maintain things. This is the basis, to stop buying repeatedly vacuum cleaners and toasters.
As proof, more than half of the devices received by after-sales services “were simply poorly maintained and do not require any major repair or spare part”, the 120-page book tells us.
The catch is, it takes time to be a good student. And it is not an endless commodity.
Reading the guide, we tell ourselves that the person who cleans, dust, dries, stores, inspects, brushes, lubricates, covers, empties and dismantles, as advised. Protect yourself, must necessarily be retired! “It is certain that the lifespan of things is consistent with the time we spend taking care of them,” told me the magazine’s spokesperson, Marie-Noëlle Lajoie.
But you have to remember, to encourage yourself, that going around stores to buy and redeem also takes time. Even virtually.
PHOTO GABRIEL BÉLAND, ARCHIVES THE PRESS
In Quebec, there are several collaborative repair shops, such as the Repair Café (above).
To reduce its waste production, Protect yourself offers other tips than maintenance. Take the cell phone page. It explains how to save a device that has fallen into the water with semolina (more effective than rice). And how to give a second life to an iPhone which is still functional, but which has lived through, by transforming it into a surveillance camera. “Download the app Skype and set it so that your device initiates the video call when you want it. “
And when the going gets tough, the trash isn’t the only option. According to Recyc-Québec, nearly 8 out of 10 Quebecers seek to have their defective products repaired rather than replacing them. But it is not always easy to find the expertise.
However, there is an interactive map (free) to locate some 300 repairers able to extend the life of his espresso machine, his razor or even a teddy bear who has lost a paw. The only small disappointment: there is no search engine that would allow you to know the location of the snowblower repairer closest to his home.
The guide to Protect yourself also lists a host of resources to find tutorials and workshops on how to repair it yourself with the help of a specialist.
The guide to Protect yourself is sold online and at newsstands.
Responsible consumption is really in tune with the times, as evidenced by the most recent EY index on the evolution of consumer habits, unveiled in mid-November. The accounting firm tells us that the vast majority of Canadians (80%) take sustainable development into consideration in their purchasing decisions for the holiday season.
The report also speaks of reduced spending on unnecessary products, growing interest in repairing and renting objects, preferably for eco-responsible companies. Clearly, consumers want to improve their social and environmental footprint. Not just in Canada, but all over the world. The 16,000 respondents live in 21 countries.
As they spent their days at home, teleworkers realized that they had too much. No less than 48% of respondents declared an overabundance of clothing. How will this translate into future shopping habits?
One thing is certain, post-pandemic consumption is aligned to be modified by new priorities that become more and more anchored over the months. “Many learned to live on less during the pandemic, now they want to buy better rather than more,” concludes EY.