With the approaching Black Friday rush, it is a good time to reflect on the impact of the mass industry. Fifty years ago, it was common to repair objects. Vacuum cleaners, phones and washing machines lasted a long time and represented a high value. Today, the habit of repair has disappeared, both among consumers and manufacturers. Products do not last as long and people are encouraged to buy more and more. This is something that needs to change, think the authors of the white paper (Repair in the circular economy: European legislation, product topic and business models). The white paper is a joint publication of the Leiden-Delft-Erasmus Centre for Sustainability and TU Delft's Faculty of Industrial Design. One of the authors is dr. Ellen Loots (Arts and Culture).
Ellen Loots is assistant professor of Cultural Economics and Entrepreneurship in the Arts and Culture department. She has researched value creation in circular design processes, cultural heritage preservation and the role of community participation in sustainable organisations and institutions. In the context of the white paper, Ellen was interviewed to offer more insights from her research and knowledge. This interview can be found in the white paper.
"As part of the circular economy, we are seeing a shift from product ownership to much more sustainable product use," Ellen says. Ellen explains how the younger generation is exploring this more by borrowing or leasing fashion, for example. "They lease their MUD jeans, for example, and borrow clothes from the LENA library."
Alongside this shift from product ownership to more sustainable product use, Ellen sees great initiatives to promote repair. For example, the Dutch and Belgian Repair Café movement is an initiative that gives weight to basic repair skills at the community level. But conservators are also in high demand in the cultural world to preserve cultural heritage. To give this more attention, Depot Boijmans van Beuningen enables visitors to see conservators at work. And the 'Ambacht in Beeld festival' promotes and preserves our craft heritage through interactive education. "Similarly, we need to start appreciating the skills and craftsmanship of restorers within the context of the circular economy."
With the white paper, Ellen hopes to instil this mindset in consumers, discouraging them from throwing away (temporarily) defective products. "Every time we fix something, we enhance its potential, history, soul and intrinsic beauty."
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The full white paper and interview (both in Dutch) can be read here.
