Save the Planet: Demand Better Products!

 We have our kids growing up thinking that electric cars are better for the environment, than anything that has come before them.  I don't agree with that, and believe electric cars are more toxic than anything that has come before.

If you listen to experts, not vested in the electric car market, then you hear the negative attributes.  We don't have the electric power grid to support all these cars.  The power to charge them comes from electricity which is still not clean energy.  There has been no discussion on the disposal of electric car batteries, or the mining processes for producing new batteries in such quantities.  Electric cars are not the solution.

If you want something truly better for the environment, then pick a car model and make that same car for the next 50 years.  This would eliminate cars piling up in junkyards because they couldn't be fixed for lack of replacement parts.  Make cars where transmissions, engines, mufflers, etc all fit the same brackets, space, and configuration.  Manufacturers thrive on selling parts long after the car is sold.  If they keep producing new models, where the components of the new model dosen't match the next model, or the older model, then you have to buy a new part.  What if you could buy a new car that had the same parts as your old car?  You could keep the old car as a 'parts' warehouse.  The old car may be worn out, but windows, doors, fenders, a bracket, etc. may still have a lot more life left in it.  We need to ditch the 'Newer is Better' mentality and look at how we can 'Build to Reuse.'  

In the 1940's and 1950's, cars and appliances were made to be 'repairable.'  Now everything is made to be disposed of, and replaced.  We need to look at making things that last, or where at least the components of an item can continue on.  Marketing Directors would disagree and say that people want new items, not old worn-out models.

This is destructive, non-environmentally sound thinking that causes a greater toll on our environment.  We continue to add to our landfills and increase the space allocated to our junk yards.  We need to refurbish and reuse, but that begins with the design process.  The old adage, 'If you build a better mousetrap they will beat down the door to get it,' needs to be replaced, with a demand from the consumer, 'We want a better product and will not buy until we get it.'

Demand better!