If spare parts resellers and manufacturers selling spare parts were not so greedy, and repairers were not so greedy, then it would be more viable to retain and repair. If one has an old product that has already broken down somehow, repair costs can run up to half or even the full replacement cost, occasionally higher than replacement cost. You could be a fool and spend excessivley to have it fixed, but then you would be stuck with an old product with everything else likely to break down soon except what was fixed today.

We also keep the racket going along by having annual MOT or rego inspections for rego renewal, many motorists get raped at the garage by being overserviced by greedy servicemen. A friend had this problem and only when they changed mechanic, found out they were being ripped off.

In 1992 I started a Eco Fashion Cottage Craft Enterprise based in the Murray Darling Basin region. I repaired garments, designed and made Hats, Bags, Clothing
from reclaimed materials. I was a ‘Greenie’ literally laughed out of town!

My dream shattered recovering from a nervous breakdown I closed down my little shop went to Maleny (Qld). It is there someone advised me to book a stall at Maleny Folk Festival. It was a huge success.
From then on it became a yearly event selling at Woodford Folk Festival, Womadelaide, National Folk Festival (Canberra), Port Fairy Folk Festival.

I diverted my talent entirely to Hat making using recycled/reclaimed materials. I worked my fingers to the bone between festivals.

Today in 2009, about twenty thousand hats later, working eighty hours per week from home in my backyard Railway Carriage Workshop near Mildura my business related expenses have increased from $3000 per year in 1992 to $30,000 per year in 2009. My expenses to sell at Folk Festivals run into thousands of dollars for each festival market.

It has been a passionate struggle. Now at 59, still making hats, my stockpile of hats is growing and turning into a storage problem. I still struggle covering costs, still do all the work myself. With only $2000 in Super Fund the future looks grim.

Where are all those ‘green movement’ devotees supporting my business? I am well known and much talked about. Business advisors tell me I have to design and outsource my product overseas which I refuse to do because I walk my talk. My hats are posted on my website outrageoushats.com, listed on several ‘green’ directories.

I am convinced that the masses still prefer to buy an eco-ethical garments made by big fashion labels made in China.

There are still a few more thousand hats in my head and I have enough materials to last me for several more lives. I enjoy creating my own designs and there is no need for me to swallow Prozac or watch TV

A RETURN to thrift? Oh, I've missed something: From childhood, I've been mending, repairing and reusing. I thought it was the right way to live. Repeatedly scorned by others for getting my shoes repaired and wearing them for years. Mocked for wanting to drive my car until it 'dies'. This disposable mentality which permeates everything is why we are in trouble in the first place, environment, health, everything! Cars are not newpapers, they cost a lot more than that. Mine is 14yrs old. Bought it new, so as not to purchase someone else's problems. Small, not locally made, but it was cheap and still is very cheap to run. I only use it when absolutely necessary. Clothes: I bought most of mine 20-30 years ago. They have been mended and altered to suit the changing trends. Sometimes I wear something to an occasion, and get Oooh! Aaah! Where did you get that? I smile and say: bought it from a dept store 25yrs ago. Hey, it's older than you! The person blushes. Now that's amusing. My home is 1958 vintage, not renovated at all since built. It has been maintained with minor restorations from time to time. The window sashes are due to be replaced, again. The ho-hum of the supplier is a bit disappointing. He mumbles about old timber windows, and how aluminium ones would work better. But I admonish him, saying these are better. They open easily, because I look after them.
So, they now call giving something a second life 'recycling'. And sensible natural gardening is now called 'organic'. Those words were not around when I was a child. But the practices are as old as mankind. Recently, a flute was found, 65,000(?)years old, made from a vulture's bone. We should be mindful: 'Waste not, want not.'
Sadly, the lack of comments/interest in this article really says it all. More people should think about it. Because it has always made sense. In the recent few decades we have lost our direction on this one.

Eco Hatter & LadyAussieAlone

I really appreciate both your posts, no doubt there are many in Aged Care Homes who could teach us a thing or two about thrift.

I too scavenge the op-shops for clothes and buy quality shoes which I keep repaired for years. I must admit that part of this is a hangover from my uni days, when I just preferred to dress a little differently, now it is a practical and enjoyable way to shop.

I loathe the sameness of chain stores almost as much as the throw-away consumerism that is part of their 'philosophy'.

And what is not to like about home grown veggies?

In my more positive moods, I think the future belongs to the artisan, the small business, those who create for longevity rather than fast turnover.

Then I see the absurd carry on over Ute-Gate and realise that our leaders do not have a clue.

If there were the same regulations regarding workplace conditions, health and safety and child labour applying to products made overseas as there are for locally produced goods there would be a greater incentive to recycle, repair etc. As things stand it is way too cheap to keep buying more rubbish.

To reduce the enormous amount of waste, one needs to understand why the waste is necessary to maintain a viable economy. Then the removal of that flaw from the system will be seen as beneficial.
The reason we have periodical severe unemployment is that the present capitalist taxation allocation maximises production. Material and energy costs are kept to the minimum for corporations as well as a low tax on profits (this is to give a competitive advantage, which also maximises the ability to produce). Thus the burden of raising taxes falls more on wages and salaries. Worst of all is the use of the GST, but those taxes in turn reduce purchasing power, which results in unemployment, unless the economy is perpetually growing. There are other factors like the way money is created.
The reason to stop our wasteful way is that there’s strong evidence that the damage to the environment would be to such an extent that it could severely endanger our children, but the general feeling for governments is that unemployment, now, is worst still. Unfortunately they forecast long period of unemployment and promote more wasteful consumption, which is reducing our natural assets and warming the planet.
Therefore it’s necessary to reallocate what is to be taxed. We can fix our dilemma if the use of labour is increased by decreasing and eventually eliminating all taxes and charges on the use of labour and greenhouse gases can be reduced by increasing their taxes. These measures can be implemented without a revolution or any hardship; on the contrary, they will improve our life.
The increased cost of energy and material with a decreased cost of labour, which could be halved, would change the way we live from unsustainable to a sustainable life style. We will have less new products of more durable quality, cheaper repairs.
I think your contribution Valerie, is valuable and consistent. I was pleased with a similar approach you made on Ockham Razor of last year, which I made comments to you at the time

Fractelle
Sure, people in Aged Care Homes know about thrift. They are from the Great Depression, but do you forget about those others of us, who are much YOUNGER than that? For example, I am from that unrecognised group who is sandwiched between 'Baby Boomers' and 'Gen-Y-Bother'.
My parents were 'pre-BB', and themselves knew about thrift. They taught me. The Baby Boomers were living it up, a few years ahead of me, and when I came along, all the resources were being 'tightened up'. For example, I had to pay for my university education. No free education for me. Had to pay HECS. Worked full-time while studying part-time, so could pay it 'up front'. Now along come the 'Gen-Y-Bother', with the attitude that thrift is irrelevant and everyone else will do the hard work, so the 'Gen-Y's'can be the CEOs with no previous experience. We can see how that is working.
So - have you noticed - the gap between the rich and poor is widening? And where do you think the majority of those in the middle are going? Downwards. There is a larger number of those with much less, for quite a few years now. They are not in Aged Care Homes. They are the large (read:not minority), faceless, speechless group of people who can't afford to live in the cities, some live on the outskirts, some in the country, who attend events like garage sales. Take a look, Fractelle. Go to one of these events and look around. That group is growing, despite the efforts of the Govt to keep it minimised. OK, so that demographic is also aging; but then so is the population at large. But - we are not all in Aged Care Homes. Some are in their late 40s. Not THAT old, last time I looked.

LAA

You are assuming much from a remark about garnering the wisdom of elders in Aged Care homes, I too:

<<had to pay for my university education. No free education for me. Had to pay HECS.>>

Although I worked part-time and studied full-time. But didn't finish my degree due to injuries from car accident preventing me from working enough pay my bills - Austudy being so scant.

<< I am from that unrecognised group who is sandwiched between 'Baby Boomers' and 'Gen-Y-Bother'.>>

Well boo-hoo to you. I don't have a problem with that, it meant I went to gigs like Nick Cave instead of John Farnham.

Apart from making judgements about me, you are also presuming much about Gen Y's - Tertiary education still costs, HECS is even a larger burden.

Oh, I have kind of noticed how the gap between rich and poor is widening - seeing as I am now on a Disability Pension - so don't preach to me about thrift. I thought all the posters on this thread had much in common, guess I was wrong. Some are more righteous than others.

I have every confidence that Gen Y's and the following Gen X's will learn from the screw-ups by the baby boomers, they sure as hell can't be any worse.

Now that I have got that off my chest, back to the garden to finish weeding my veggie patch.

Tip for garden stakes: bamboo stems make cheap, available and sturdy alternative stakes for climbers.

Fractelle
I was not assuming your education was free, just saying mine was not. We all use bamboo stems for climbers. My large yard is half vegie patch, half relaxation. I also compost garden waste and have (nerdy!) worm farms, transforming 9 litres of vegie waste, each week; into garden food. Saves heaps on purchase of natural fertilisers.
The reason for my response: It looked as though you were commencing by dismissing 'thrift' knowledge as being limited to those at the end of their lives, and no longer able to look after themselves. This is often a response from 'Gen-Y'ers. It is dismissive. Perhaps you did not mean that. But it came across as though there were very few if any who knew about thrift, in the other catagories. I am speaking from personal experience, and discussion with those of my age, saying that those between the BBs and Gen-Y are a group with more personal experience of thrift. Yes, Boo-Hoo indeed! Because some of us do have it harder than others. It all depends when you were born, and what you decide to do with your life. But Aged Care residents are not the only ones who know about thrift. There are others of us who could teach it, but the most needy students refuse to learn.