Would you be willing to spend more for something that lasted longer?

There is a high rate of turnover of consumer goods based on planned obsolescence. This takes two forms – functional, meaning that products are built not to last long, and fashion, meaning that newer and supposedly improved models are brought out.

In the long term we may be able to develop renewable energy sources to replace fossil fuels, but in the short term we will not be able to sustain current rates of production. One suggestion is what has been called slow consumption, the production of goods built to last. There was a time when people held onto things like clothing and even passed it down from one generation to the next.

Do you think that people could do this again? Would you be willing to? One consideration would be economic impact. Manufacturing employment would decline, but since manufacturing is mostly done in China, this may have a beneficial impact on industrialized nations. Additionally, if goods came with warantees, there would be new domestic jobs for people to do repair work.