Buy It For Life: Pro

This article was first published in the Skaha Matters Newsletter

Disclaimer: Even if most Canadians followed all the advice in this column, consumer choice is not sufficient to slow global climate change.

My kids used to have backpacks, plural. Sparkly backpacks, animal backpacks. Backpacks with matching lunch bags. These backpacks were purchased because they were cute, not because we needed another backpack. They were purchased (sometimes by grandparents) because they were appealing, not because they were the right tool for the right job. They have broken zippers, small holes in the corner, and peeling linings. Now each kid has one Jansport backpack. Near the end of grade five we sit down with the Jansport website and we pick out a “lifetime backpack”. They will use it for middle school, secondary school and university. If something breaks, Jansport will fix it or replace it. Forever.

It is not just “forever backpacks", now there is a broader “Buy it for life” movement. It has a Reddit thread, a book “A Life Less Throwaway” and a store: Buymeonce.com. The movement is based on the idea that repeatedly buying something new and shiny with all the bells and whistles is a waste. It’s a waste of resources and landfill space as that clothes washer is thrown out. It’s a waste of your time and effort, as the repairman tells you “it’s not worth fixing” and you head out again to find the “perfect washer”. And it is a waste of money, as over the course of your life, you purchase the same items, again and again, because consumers don’t value repair or reliability. The “Buy it for life” crowd investigates warranties. They try to track long term reliability and they discuss repairs. Can you find a repairman? Can you get the parts? Is your dishwasher going to come down with a computer error code which prevents it from finishing a drying cycle?

Any woman who has dressed for a formal business setting (or prom) knows that nylon stockings are like Kleenex -- they are created for one-time use. Companies have known for decades how to weave a stocking so that when a single thread breaks, it doesn’t “ladder” down the full length of the stocking. “A Life Less Throwaway” presents evidence that light bulb manufacturing companies met in secret, in Switzerland, to pledge their factories to SHORTER lifetimes on bulbs - and creating a cartel made it impossible to choose a more reliable brand.

I enjoy watching my kids, at age 11, make a long term decision about backpacks. They avoid prints and light colors (“It’s always going to look dirty”). They avoid special features like earphone holes or see-through pockets. They do choose something individual (“So I know which one is mine”). And, while they are young enough to listen to their parents, we agree that it’s cool to carry a backpack to school that shows proud signs of age and has a zipper that works perfectly. “This?” they say, “I’ve had this backpack since middle school”.



Articles and cartoons on Teaspoon Energy by Kristy Dyer are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License You may reprint this as-is for free.