Our Reckless Consumerism Will Be The Death of Us All

We live in a throwaway culture. Most devices these days are made to prevent owners from repairing them should they become faulty. From iPhones to Tesla vehicles, these modern gadgets and technology are built with planned obsolescence designed in, to tie users into an tight upgrade cycle. 

Remember when you could replace motors in your stereo player, or even swap batteries from your old Samsung or Blackberry phone? Well, Apple killed that. Now it isn't uncommon to see even laptops having sealed-in batteries. Following this trend set by Apple, vital parts of modern devices have become increasingly sealed in and integrated into software. Thus, instead of being able to replace say a phone battery after its useful life, you will have no choice but to upgrade to a new phone, or spend an exorbitant amount to the get the battery replaced by the phone vendor. In most cases, it makes more financial sense to just upgrade. 

If we were to admit it, most of us have amassed a collection of all old devices that would work perfectly if not for a broken screen or software version restrictions. 

Apple started this mess, with their planned obsolescence of iPhones, but this unfortunately has become the standard in the tech industry. As an example, earlier this year, Tesla, which boasts of its vehicles of being the environmentally friendly option to hydrocarbon-powered vehicles put in place a new policy to block salvaged Tesla vehicles from being able to charge using their vast network of Supercharger stations. 

Their rationale for this was cited as safety, however it does not take a genius the caliber of Elon Musk to see how devastating this policy would be to the burgeoning environmentally responsible Tesla salvage and rebuild industry. Thus, once a Tesla is underwritten by the insurance companies as not worth salvaging (mostly because of the high labour costs in repairs) after a collision, these vehicle will no longer be worth salvaging as a Tesla without Supercharger access is just a glorified golf cart. 

Not to be outdone, Apple just one-upped Tesla, though. The new iPhone even goes as far as rejecting genuine parts that do not match Apple’s exact specifications for the particular model, in software. 

This is clearly aimed at the 3rd party repair industry for iPhones. Basically, Apple wants to be the only vendor that can service iPhones, and this move just guarantees that. Better believe that when your iPhone screen breaks or some part malfunctions, Apple will be pushing the next and greatest model in your face as an upgrade option and preferred path for you. This move may be good for Apple's bottom-line, but it is terrible for the environment. 

This perpetuates a culture that is the opposite of the environmental stewardship that these "green" companies espouse. The fact that this is perpetuated by companies that tout their environmental consciousness is indeed shocking. This earth's natural resources are finite, and our environment just cannot sustain this level of reckless consumerism. The rare earth elements that these devices depend on are indeed rare, and the acquisition of them have spawned conflicts in impoverished countries and threaten more in the future. With this in mind, there is a need for a shift in our thinking and in our mindset on what is we consider as environmentally friendly. We have come to accept the bill of goods that have been sold us. 

The question that bears asking is how can we continue to support and feed this culture? What can you do to make a difference? 

I would suggest that these companies reverse these environmentally-hostile policies. We should not continue to pretend to care for the environment by driving electric vehicles and using energy efficient devices, while being hostile to salvaging and re-using old devices. We should thrift more, and buy new less. Do you really need to upgrade your phone every year? Conserve and protect what you have, so that things can last longer. Our future might just depend on this change in our mindset.