I’ve done some modeling on this. Design for durability makes a huge impact on carbon impact, and design for repairability is one of the big levers there. The landfill is not the problem (sequestered carbon) it’s the fact that new things are made as fast as old things go landfill.
Yeah it’s not a panacea. Plastic straws and cloth totes are other examples. It’s a mix of targeted redesign, proper labeling, modeling and imitation, and incentives. Designing for durability and repairability as a general default in isolation won’t work.
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Consumption behaviors are a form of religion. Probably deeper rooted. This is a harder equilibrium to shift than religion. And harder than energy use shift to renewables too.
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that would be my takeaway, we could regulate manufacturing as much as possible but in the end it's a consumer culture / incentive thing. stand in any walmart and guess how many average people own screwdrivers, have the time / interest / skill to diagnose and fix something, etc
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The real question is what are the assumptions of those models. Greenwashers will overstate as-used product lifetimes / disposable product externalities while understating their "green" product. This is why I like to say: "carbon tax and chill", as CO2 price will enforce true cost
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But the larger point is, there’s no way to decarbonize without shifting consumption patterns to a lower-emissions equilibrium. There’s only so far you can get with taxes, cap-and-trade, and carbon credits. And with matter unlike energy there’s fewer big levers like renewables.
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Carbon tax / sequestration seems like the true panacea. It could be done at massive scale while the economy adjusts. I don't see what would limit it if carbon tax / credits could provide the funding.
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