We can trace the throw away culture back to Edward Bernais. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/pr-created-consumerism-lessons-sustainability http

We can trace the throw away culture back to Edward Bernais. https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/pr-created-consumerism-lessons-sustainability https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/pr-created-... I think consumer goods were made and advertised as being 'made to last'. However, it is far better for the manufacturer to have a customer that buys the same goods more frequently, say every 5 years, rather than every 20 or 30. Bernais created the concept of a consumer and influenced the masses to buy goods so they could meet their unconscious desires, not according to function. That is the root of the issue. If as consumers we think we're buying a fridge, but are actually unknowingly buying an aspirational lifestyle. We may think we're too savvy for to be taken in by marketing - but we are not. We need to get far more savvy! What I would love to see is open source white goods: fridges, printers, ovens, cars even. And to use them.