The present economic system requires us to consume and throw away more and more goods. Yet often it's our desire, and the best interests of the environment, for these goods to last. The contributors to this book, who comprise many of the most significant international thinkers in the field, explore how longer lasting products could offer enhanced value while reducing environmental impacts. If we created fewer but better quality products, looked after them carefully and invested more in repair, renovation and upgrading, would this direct our economy onto a more sustainable course? The solution sounds simple, yet it requires a seismic shift in how we think, whether as producers or consumers, and our voracious appetite for novelty.The complex range of issues associated with product life-spans demands a multidisciplinary approach. The book covers historical context, design, engineering, marketing, law, government policy, consumer behaviour and systems of provision. It addresses the whole range of consumer durables – vehicles, kitchen appliances, audio-visual equipment and other domestic products, furniture and floor coverings, hardware, garden tools, clothing, household textiles, recreational goods and DIY goods – as well as the re-use of packaging.Longer Lasting Products provides policy makers, those involved in product design, manufacturing and marketing, and all of us as consumers, with clear and compelling guidance as to how we can move away from a throwaway culture towards an economy sustained by more durable goods.
List of figures
List of Tables
About the Contributors
Acknowledgements
Foreword
Preface
Chapter 1 : The Significance of Product Longevity
Chapter 2 : Re-evaluating Obsolescence and Planning for It
Chapter 3 : Subject/Object Relationships and Emotionally Durable Design
Chapter 4 : Defying Obsolescence
Chapter 5 : Understanding Replacement Behaviour and Exploring Design Solutions
Chapter 6 : Adjusting Our Metabolism : Slowness and Nourishing Rituals of Delay in Anticipation of a Post-Consumer Age
Chapter 7 : Durability, Function and Performance
Chapter 8 : Durability and The Law
Chapter 9 : The Law on Guarantees and Repair Work
Chapter 10 : Policies for Longevity
Chapter 11 : Rethinking Marketing
Chapter 12 : Marketing Durability
Chapter 13 : Can Durability Provide a Strong Marketing Platform?
Chapter 14 : Consumer Influences on Product Life-Spans
Chapter 15 : Product Life Cycle Management Through IT
Chapter 16 : There are Times and Places : Systems and Practices in the Domestic Processing and Reuse of Packaging
Chapter 17 : Extending Product Life-Spans
Index
