Longer lasting products: alternatives to the throwaway society

460 Pages·2010·9.32 MB·English

by  Tim Cooper (editor)

Longer Lasting Products
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Longer Lasting
Products
Alternatives to the Throwaway
Society
Edited by
Tim CooPEr
© Tim Cooper 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Tim Cooper has asserted his moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988,
to be identified as the editor of this work.
Published by
Gower Publishing Limited Ashgate Publishing Company
Wey Court East Suite 420
Union Road 101 Cherry Street
Farnham Burlington,
Surrey, GU9 7PT VT 05401-4405
England USA
www.gowerpublishing.com
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Longer lasting products : alternatives to the throwaway
society.
1. Product life cycle. 2. New products. 3. Quality of
products. 4. Sustainable design. 5. Consumers--Attitudes.
I. Cooper, Tim.
658.5'752-dc22
ISBN: 978-0-566-08808-7 (hbk)
978-1-4094-1043-0 (ebk)
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Longer lasting products : alternatives to the throwaway society / [edited] by Tim Cooper.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 978-0-566-08808-7 (hbk.) 1. Product life cycle. 2. Product obsolescence. 3. Consumer
behavior--Environmental aspects. I. Cooper, Tim, 1957-
HF5415.155.L66 2010
658.5'6--dc22

2010010155
The cover photograph is of Paul Bonomini’s design for the RSA’s Weeeman Project and the
image has been used with his kind permission. The robotic figure is made of scrap electrical
and electronic equipment that weighs 3.3 tonnes, the average amount that each person in the
UK throws away during his or her lifetime.
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
About the Contributors xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Foreword xv
Preface xix
Part 1 Overview
1 The Significance of Product Longevity 3
Tim Cooper
Part 2 Design fOr LOngevity
2 Re-evaluating Obsolescence and Planning for It 39
Brian Burns
3 Subject/Object Relationships and Emotionally Durable
Design 61
Jonathan Chapman
4 Defying Obsolescence 77

Miles Park
5 Understanding Replacement Behaviour and Exploring
Design solutions 107
Nicole van Nes
6 Adjusting Our Metabolism: Slowness and Nourishing
Rituals of Delay in Anticipation of a Post-Consumer Age 133
Alastair Fuad-Luke
7 Durability, Function and Performance 157
Walter Stahel
vi LongEr LASTing ProduCTS
Part 3 PuBLiC POLiCy anD PrODuCt Life-sPans
8 Durability and the Law 181
Cowan Ervine
9 The Law on Guarantees and Repair Work 195
Christian Twigg-Flesner
10 Policies for Longevity 215
Tim Cooper
PART 4 MARkETING LONGER LASTING PRODUCTs
11 Rethinking Marketing 243
Ken Peattie
12 Marketing Durability 273
Tim Cooper and Kirsty Christer
13 Can Durability Provide a Strong Marketing Platform? 297
Dorothy Mackenzie, Tim Cooper and Kenisha Garnett
Part 5 PrODuCt use anD reuse
14 Consumer Influences on Product Life-Spans 319
Siân Evans and Tim Cooper
15 Product Life Cycle Management Through IT 351
Matthew Simon

16 There are Times and Places: Systems and Practices in the
Domestic Processing and Reuse of Packaging 367
Janet Shipton and Tom Fisher
17 Extending Product Life-Spans: Household Furniture and
Appliance Reuse in the Uk 393
Anthony Curran
Index 41
List of Figures
Figure 1.1 Product longevity as a means of integrating efficiency and
sufficiency 14
Figure 1.2 Forms of relative obsolescence 16
Figure 2.1 Aesthetic obsolescence – new, worn-in and worn-out fashion
jeans 46
Figure 2.2 Social obsolescence – an ashtray 47
Figure 2.3 Technological obsolescence – successive modes of data
transfer 48
Figure 2.4 Economic obsolescence – a sofa that was economically not
worth recovering 49
Figure 4.1 Ephemeral electronics: Lighting Bugs, battery-illuminated
confectionery 80
Figure 4.2 Defying obsolescence: category groupings, from micro to
macro 82
Figure 4.3 iPods, new and not so old 84
Figure 4.4 Nicks and scratches are aesthetically acceptable on rugged
tools 85
Figure 4.5 A silent performer: demoted within the household but still
valued 89
Figure 4.6 Aeroplane made out of discarded packaging and sticky tape 90
Figure 4.7 A passionate collector who never threw anything away! 92
Figure 4.8 Car boot sale 96

Figure 4.9 QR code, containing 250 characters 98
Figure 5.1 The replacement decision as a deterioration of the actual and
desired state 110
Figure 5.2 The three groups of factors that influence the product
replacement decision 111
Figure 5.3 The hierarchy between the three groups of factors that
influence the product replacement decision 115
Figure 5.4 Model of factors influencing the arousal of the replacement
need 117
Figure 5.5 Telecommunication device ‘Teletangram’ 125
Figure 5.6 Audio set: ‘Sound 2000’ 126
Figure 5.7 Personal computer 127
Figure 6.1 Model for design and well-being 142
viii LongEr LASTing ProduCTS
Figure 6.2 Rebotijo (summer jug) 144
Figure 6.3 Tache Naturelle (natural stain) 144
Figure 6.4 Strategies for extending product:user relationships 147
Figure 6.5 Making and localization 147
Figure 6.6 Ways of designing and making 148
Figure 6.7 From ownership to sharing 149
Figure 7.1 Evolution of shares in life cycle costs for a car over a 50-year
period 161
Figure 12.1 Advertisement promoting longevity, with specific reference
to expected life-span – Miele 277
Figure 12.2 Slogan used in marketing campaign to highlight product
durability – Marks and Spencer 277
Figure 12.3 Examples of long guarantees – (a) Magimix and (b) Siemens 278
Figure 12.5 Consumer leaflet with technical information and reference
to quality standards – Westex Carpets 279
Figure 12.4 Use of brand name to signify product durability – Tilley
Endurables 279
Figure 12.6 Life-span label on long life bulb – Philips 282
Figure 14.1 Simplified conceptual framework 325
Figure 15.1 The ELIMA system 354
Figure 15.2 Plot of records from fridge-freezers of number and
cumulative duration of door-opening events 354
Figure 15.3 Image of the additional circuit board inserted into a standard
Sony PS2 console 355
Figure 15.4 Detailed temperature records and energy transmitted from a
fridge-freezer over a 24-hour period 357
Figure 16.1 Cardboard nappy box used as toy box 371
Figure 16.2 Glass wine bottle on display 372
Figure 16.3 Plastic bottle used as cloche in garden 372

Figure 16.4 Space and time matrix 373
Figure 16.5 ‘Nice’ carrier bags 375
Figure 16.6 Sturdy plastic bag used to protect equipment 375
Figure 16.7 Carrier bag made into a hat 376
Figure 16.8 The domestic packaging process flow 380
Figure 16.9 Old Oxo tin 383
Figure 16.10 First design test 385
Figure 16.11 Second design test 386
Figure 17.1 Source of household bulky items, by discard route 399
Figure 17.2 Reuse rates for household bulky items, by discard route 400
Figure 17.3 Source of all reused items, by discard route 403
List of Tables
Table 5.1 Product characteristics affecting the replacement decision 118
Table 5.2 Situational influences upon the replacement decision 119
Table 5.3 Consumer characteristics affecting the replacement decision 120
Table 5.4 Design strategies for longevity 123
Table 5.5 Comparison of design strategies from workshop with lists
from literature 124
Table 6.1 Expressions of slow activism 137
Table 6.2 Slow Design manifesto, 2003 139
Table 6.3 Strategies and approaches for extending the product:user
relationship 146
Table 7.1 Advantages in manufacturing, after-sales services and
utilization of component standardization 167
Table 7.2 Performance comparison of Volkswagen Golf GTI, 1976
and 2004 170
Table 7.3 Selling performance versus selling products 172
Table 10.1 Potential policy measures 227
Table 11.1 Contrasting the sustainability and conventional marketing
mindsets 264
Table 12.1 Recommended information on product life-spans 288
Table 13.1 Marketing platforms for durability 303
Table 14.1 Taxonomy of consumer influences on product life-spans 324
Table 14.2 Consumer influences on product life-spans, by product 327

Table 14.3 Summary of consumer influences, by phase of consumption 328
Table 14.4 Examples of behaviour, by different types of consumer 329
Table 14.5 Key factors affecting consumer influence on product life-spans 331
Table 14.6 Examples of inconsistent consumer behaviour 339
Table 17.1 Methods of discarding bulky items typically resulting in
disposal 398
Table 17.2 Methods of discarding bulky items typically resulting in
further use 402
Table 17.3 Consumers’ opinions of the reuse potential of bulky waste 404
Table 17.4 Previous potential reuse estimates for bulky waste 405
Table 17.5 Items collected for reuse at HWRCs 407
Table 17.6 A typical reuse organization 410
Table 17.7 An advanced reuse organization 410