I always grew up being taught to take care of things, and not to waste. This, obviously goes against the modern economy which is to spend spend spend. It seems like everyone today needs the most newest thing of whatever it is, and will go into severe debt to get it.
More often than not, I see others replacing things, be it appliances, electronics, clothing, automobiles, or practically anything that can be bought simply because it is "old". These materials do not need to be malfunctioning to be replaced in the minds of the general public for some reason. I just can't understand why someone would want to replace something that is perfectly functioning an in good condition!
Still, it seems like nobody these days wants to maintain what they have either, and manufacturers are encouraging this activity. Still, as a repair tech myself for electronics, I see people have trouble with equipment that is brought on by obvious lack of maintaince or misuse and abuse. I constantly see people heavy-handing controls, or bumping and banging around delicate componets. Forcefully shoving tapes into machines, banging on switches & buttons, leaving projectors in the damp trunks of cars, spilling food inside, etc Something as simple as cleaning the dust off a control panel goes a long way toward helping things last longer.
This country is so wasteful. Behind my house, they are building some new homes, and the contstruction workers are terribly wasteful. I have hauled considerable amounts of scrap home from their dumpsters and used it to finish off my own attic. Out and about on service calls, I always take time to scout out a contstruction dumpseter when a building is being renovated. I have found some nice marble that I have used for countertops in my kitchen, and some awesome mahogany paneling. along with some chrome trim from the old Blue-Cross building here in my hometown when it was "renovated" (it used to be a real jewel of mid-century modern design until it was hacked up to look like the more modern building they built beside it)
I drive up Broad street, the main drag in town, and see business and parking lotslit up like ballparks after they are closed for the day. Gallons of purified, treated water gushes out of sprinklers during the night, and perfectly fine buildings are torn down to replace them with newer buildings. All the while I am turning off lights and other electrical stuff around the house, trying to recycle, and maintaining my 60 year old home.
...I just don't get what drives people to waste materials, enery, and MONEY they way they do!
