Low tech tips

This is a brief discussion of the costs and value of sustainable thinking.

Why repair over repurchase?
Most people think the technical skill for a repair is the limiting factor… But this is not really true… In many cases the repair itself is trivial but in the tech world this may be a moot point since many high tech or “smart” products are not designed with repair in mind… I had a ($50) Phillips Hue light die out because of a 50 cent capacitor but the effort to get inside the thing ruins the packaging.

Many things these days can be replaced cheaply. Shirt has a little hole in the front? Modern way is to just toss it out and buy a new shirt. But I resist that; If the fabric isn’t completely threadbare I will often save any fabric and try to reuse it if possible on other projects. Also trying to find recycling points for any fabric which I can not see myself using.

I’ve seen people assert that it’s cheaper to buy paper plates than to buy reusable glass plates. There are many things to look at more than cost. Total cost of ownership should be considered, but that can be a harder and more complex question to answer... In this case the catch may be: is the time it takes to clean a plate worth the cost difference. Let’s just quickly run the numbers for 1 person assuming they used a new plate for 3 meals a day (but remember for each family member added (up to 4) the glass plates won’t cost any extra, but the paper plates will go up linearly/multiplicatively in cost.

Glass plates may last around 5 years so if initial cost of 4 glass plates is $20, and we took that same money to spend on paper it which would buy us ~ 400 paper plates @ 3 plates a day that would last us about 1/3 (133 days) of the year. We’d need 1080 (360*3) plates for one year and thus 5400 would be needed for a 5 year period . Clearly we’re already spending more on the paper plates over time (about $30 per year more for disposable).
But you can make any simple problem more complicated by considering more factors. What about time or resources used?

If it takes you about 30 seconds (seems slow since it takes me about 10s) to clean a plate then that could add up to 9 hours a year you spend cleaning the glass plate. So to save 9 hours of your time in a year you pay $30. We all have to decide what we value more. 9 hours in a year plus the water used, or $30 and 1k plates in landfill? No one in the USA would work 9 hours for $30, so seems a bit ridiculous in terms of hourly wage. Cost benefit analysis at this level does seem to suggest that paper is beter than glass… somehow you also need to get the paper plates to your house, if they are delivered, there is more waste, if you pick them up at the store, then there is still a time spent component.

We could complicate things further by considering more of the side factors like water usage vs trash usage, but i’m not sure how to fairly compare those.

Water: At least we can reclaim water used in the sink, and plates would go to landfill and if they are Styrofoam plates they take many more years to decompose (if they ever can be said to decompose). A clever recycler may note that you could take the paper plates, process them and grow other food like mushrooms from them, but of course there is time and equipment (simple tho it may be) needed for this as well.

Trees:
The plant matter (or oil for styro) used in the products also comes with many hidden costs. Where is it coming from? Are the trees being used sustainably? What about the water or other chemicals used in the industrial production process? ie. How much water used in tree creation? How much gas burned in cutting, moving, processing, those trees into the paper needed? Even making paper comes with a cost in water.

Silica:
To be fair, similar arguments could be made about glass. Where are materials pulled from? Any pollutants/contaminants introduced to environment in process? How much energy used to melt the product.

There may not be any “right” answer. We make choices and have to accept the tradeoffs and consequences even if they are not easily seen because their costs are hidden in the supply chain. The sticker price of an item is supposed to tell you about all the hidden costs but environmental costs are often ignored in this final doller value… One way to make this analysis easier would be to put a price of those negative effects and/or unsustainable products at the corporate level and allow the consumer to see those costs more easily.

I’d like to discuss product lifecycle and point out some (perhaps obvious) ways we can reduce our footprint.

Production:

How much, how many resources are used in it’s creation.

Are there other side effects to resource use (overmining, habitat destruction, monocrop ecosystem destabilization)

Where does it go after use? (full lifecycle, ie. does it end up in land fill?)

As you can see the equations start to get really complex quickly

How can we make this easier?

This is the main place that repair comes in. If we simply repair what we have then we don’t have to think as much about any of the above problems.

Low tech repair:

• Sewing:
  I’ve been stitching clothes for years now. It can be done by hand cheaply and easily. I’ve fixed clothing, school backpacks, camping gear, couches, pillows and more with this simple art. My parents might say negative things regarding this about how I look like a hobo or something. But I’ve never had a single deprecating comment about my clothing from anyone else in the many years I’ve been patching. Maybe my patches are just well done, but I know some are not so my impression is that people don’t much care, and in some circles i’m even stylish. Most people don’t realize how much water goes into producing clothing About 1,800 gallons of water are needed to produce the cotton in a pair jeans, and 400 gallons to produce the cotton in a shirt.

• Simple Repairs:

  Often a repair is as simple as identifying the failing part and getting a new part. I almost always fix my hardware by listening and looking. I fix appliances, automobile. Laundry machine water pump,

Sustainable thinking:

• Reuse:
  I often use cardboard for prototyping before sending it back for recycling.
  Reuse of plastic containers at refill shops or just to hold some spare parts.
  If you’re creative you can often find clever ways to make ‘trash’ useful

• Product Lifecycle:
  Is the product designed for reuse? is it designed for repair? Can it be recycled or will it end up in landfill?

• Ownership:
  There are also other ways to distribute goods. Instead of everyone owning their own tools, we could reduce the turnover by creating tool repositories, maker spaces, tool labs, or craft junkies willing to do the work for a fee.
  I’m not by any means saying one shouldn’t own a table saw. But how many people in a 3 block radius have one? Do you think they are even getting 5% utilization out of it?

• Packaging:
  Whenever I buy products I always consider where the packaging is going afterward. My Toilet Paper is made from bamboo and comes in a cardboard box instead of a plastic bag. I also always try to minimize use of vendors that have extra packaging or plastic waste. A lot of times I can reuse plastic containers at local “refill shops”

• Personal Food Waste:
  We don’t have much waste, but there are always off cuts and sometimes things will get missed and end up moldy, so it goes to my Pet Worms (link to worm bin post). Last year my city started requiring all food waste to be placed in green waste bin for compost instead of going into the landfill.

• Personal Water waste:
  Sprinkler systems should be smart enough to reduce water usage if it’s cooler or raining (https://opensprinkler.com/)
  Shower heads can make a big difference, and so can setting a timer
  I’ve mentioned on other pages how much toilets make me sad because of all the perfectly good water just getting shit in. There are low tech fixes to reduce water use of tank toilets. I discuss this on another post.