A Throwaway Society: Dude what happened to my jeans?
I’m pissed! In an effort to save money while being a bit brand conscious I bought a pair of Levis Jeans at Macy’s in Boston’s Downtown Crossing store.
I didn’t buy the most expensive über cool jeans, because that’s not me. I’m a no frills kinda guy who likes to dress well, but there is no way I am shelling out a couple hundred clams to prove myself to my friends by wearing the latest fashions and hottest brands. Hell they wouldn’t even know the difference. I buy things that work and look good and that are quality…or so I assume.
So why am I pissed? I just squatted down to tie my shoes and tore a hold in the left knee! What ever happened to durability?! I bought these jeans a month ago. I remember getting jeans in high school and having them last forever. If it wasn’t because stone washed jeans are out of style (o.k. and the fact that I’ve gained a few pounds and inches around the waist line), I probably could still wear them and keep wearing them for years to come. Now when I buy clothes at the store with money that I don’t have, they seem to last just long enough for me not to be able to return them.
It’s crap like this that constantly reminds me that we live in a throwaway society. Nothing is built to last anymore. Sure consumerism keeps the economy going, but when did it become to throw the expectation of quality right out the window? When did the social contract get edited to say that we no longer want things of quality. Or worse, when did we decide as a society that we will no longer produce things of quality?
Everyone’s rushing to turn everything we consume into the disposables industry (paper towels, Swiffer mops, paper dishes, etc.), because if we’re throwing it away, that means we’ll have to go out and buy more. Consumerism at its best.
A friend and I were just recently talking about this. He mentioned a term for it, but it mostly applied to electronics, specifically iPods; of course I don’t remember what that term is. It had to do with companies intentionally making their products die after a certain amount of time, usually after the warranty has expired.
It saddens me that this effort to make more money is doing nothing but creating more waste on the planet.
Comment by annie lou — January 30, 2007 @ 5:22 pm
“A friend and I were just recently talking about this. He mentioned a term for it, but it mostly applied to electronics, specifically iPods; of course I don’t remember what that term is. It had to do with companies intentionally making their products die after a certain amount of time, usually after the warranty has expired.” -annie lou
The term referring to electronics is most likely “built-in obsolescence”.
Comment by wyrhwolf — March 5, 2007 @ 4:06 pm
Ah great term. It applies to almost everything I own it seems.
Comment by Eric Brown — March 5, 2007 @ 5:15 pm
[...] to the current state of music. It all relates back to a similar post I wrote about America being a throwaway society. It reminded me of a question my mom asked me when I was in my teens and was listening to some [...]
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