In this episode we explore the challenges of consumerism, which threatens to destroy our entire world… Back when I was a kid, way back in the 1950s, the council dustcart would come through our village once each week. It was a small, simple, smartly-painted old truck, much smaller than the lumbering monstrosities of today. Even at that small size, though, it was probably still large enough to serve the entire village all in one go - perhaps a thousand households back then.
Painful but true. "economics" leading to the antithesis of "economic". When we grow up (if we do grow up) we might look into architecting for reuse. Reuse used to be a great source of joy and pride in my childhood as almost anything could be either repaired or taken apart and used for other purposes. Nowadays, if your washer makes noises, it is cheaper and perfectly acceptable to buy a new one.
I was terrified of the local rag-and-bone man, he just seemed other-worldly
Gosh, I'm only 46 and I still remember the dust, the rag-and-bone and the scrap metal guy.
And in sophisticated Serbia (Novi Sad, European Capital of Culture 2022) where I spend a lot of time, you still have versions/echoes of that.
Painful but true. "economics" leading to the antithesis of "economic". When we grow up (if we do grow up) we might look into architecting for reuse. Reuse used to be a great source of joy and pride in my childhood as almost anything could be either repaired or taken apart and used for other purposes. Nowadays, if your washer makes noises, it is cheaper and perfectly acceptable to buy a new one.
Another impact it of that change - https://amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/amp.theguardian.com/environment/2022/mar/24/microplastics-found-in-human-blood-for-first-time