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I’m on the lookout for a new beanie. This morning I wandered into the Patagonia store to check out their offerings.
They have this nifty repair hub service that the cynical might call a smart brand marketing move and those less cynical, a necessary paradigm shift.

Now, I have about 6 other beanies at home, my favourite has a large hole in it thanks to my dog. I should just repair it.
I should just use the other 5 backups.

But I have a sneaky suspicion you will soon see me sporting a new one.
Dont judge me….I have some perfectly legitimate and justifiable reasons for doing so……totally,
seriously…
….no really.

Such is the slipperiness of my inner hypocrisy.

We live in a culture where replacement is king. We do routinely fix big-ticket items, like cars and washing machines, but primarily it’s easier and cheaper to go buy something new. There are other reasons to avoid repair, including labels warning that repairing a product on your own will void the warranty, or the lack of access to the information and parts necessary to repair something ourselves.

[…] These conditions create a society of product-consumers, not owners. And there’s a difference. Owners are empowered to take responsibility for their purchases—from proper cleaning to repairing, reusing and sharing. Consumers take, make, dispose and repeat—a pattern that is driving us towards ecological bankruptcy.

[…] And too often, products come without repair instructions—and in extreme cases companies actively thwart repairs by inventing new kinds of proprietary screws and other nonsense. This should be considered unacceptable given the environmental crisis we face—but instead, planned obsolescence is celebrated as smart marketing.

As we see greater impacts from climate change every year […], we as individuals must reverse our current course of overconsumption. Let’s behave like owners, not consumers, and repair rather than inflict something new on the planet if we don’t truly need it.

Rose Marcario, Repair is a radical act.