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I don't think I own 100 items that use batteries. I mean, I'm curious, and I'll make a list, but I'm definitely not replacing things every year. I've got a Mac

I don't think I own 100 items that use batteries. I mean, I'm curious, and I'll make a list, but I'm definitely not replacing things every year. I've got a MacBook that's a few years old, an iPhone that's two years old, and AirPods that are less than a year old, and... my Apple TV remote is many years old and still only needs charging every couple of months. My Kindle is many years old and only needs charging every couple of weeks. My two USB power bricks still seem to be doing well. One is three years old, the other almost a year old. Apple Watch is about two years old, still makes it through almost two full days on a charge. I think everything else electronic either plugs in or uses replaceable batteries (garage door opener, car keys). I might be forgetting something, but 100 items is an order of magnitude more than I think I use, and I'm not replacing most of them most years. And yes, I clearly consume a lot of Apple kit. I like to think I don't do so blindly, though.

Waterluvian 7y ago
I'm speaking more generally, not just about battery replacement. I cannot be in the mindset of disposable merchandise because I would be thinking about this stuff all the time.
- pwinnski 7y ago
  Perhaps using numbers that are an order-of-magnitude out of line aren't helpful to your main point? If you're talking about replacing 100 items per year in a world where even ardent consumers of electronics own less than one-tenth that an replace, on average, none, that seems like a hard case to make. I think there's a trend toward seeing electronics as consumable that bothers me, and I try to think carefully about my purchases, and yet somehow I've still ended up with at least eight items that use non-replaceable batteries, and maybe others that are "disposable" for other reasons. Still, for each item I own, I've considered the "disposable" nature and yet bought it anyway.
- askafriend 7y ago
  To put this into perspective, you produce more waste with a grocery trip or a takeout order than you do with owning AirPods. So let's start with the more impactful stuff before we get down to headphones that are used several hours a day every single day for a couple years. Not to mention Apple has an extensive recycling program for most of their products.
  - carlob 7y ago
    > To put this into perspective, you produce more waste with a grocery trip or a takeout order than you do with owning AirPods. That is probably only true in the US given the amount of regulation on compostable bags and boxes we have now in the EU. Secondly, e-waste is orders of magnitude more difficult to dispose of and it often contains some rare minerals that got mined in some war zone in Africa: that should give you more of an incentive to recycle than some random styrofoam container.

Waterluvian 7y ago

I'm speaking more generally, not just about battery replacement. I cannot be in the mindset of disposable merchandise because I would be thinking about this stuff all the time.

pwinnski 7y ago
Perhaps using numbers that are an order-of-magnitude out of line aren't helpful to your main point? If you're talking about replacing 100 items per year in a world where even ardent consumers of electronics own less than one-tenth that an replace, on average, none, that seems like a hard case to make. I think there's a trend toward seeing electronics as consumable that bothers me, and I try to think carefully about my purchases, and yet somehow I've still ended up with at least eight items that use non-replaceable batteries, and maybe others that are "disposable" for other reasons. Still, for each item I own, I've considered the "disposable" nature and yet bought it anyway.
askafriend 7y ago
To put this into perspective, you produce more waste with a grocery trip or a takeout order than you do with owning AirPods. So let's start with the more impactful stuff before we get down to headphones that are used several hours a day every single day for a couple years. Not to mention Apple has an extensive recycling program for most of their products.
- carlob 7y ago
  > To put this into perspective, you produce more waste with a grocery trip or a takeout order than you do with owning AirPods. That is probably only true in the US given the amount of regulation on compostable bags and boxes we have now in the EU. Secondly, e-waste is orders of magnitude more difficult to dispose of and it often contains some rare minerals that got mined in some war zone in Africa: that should give you more of an incentive to recycle than some random styrofoam container.