In the vein of Reduce Reuse Recycle there are a plethora of other Rs to use in being sustainable.   “Rethink”, for example and the title of this series, is a fundamental philosophy for everything sustainable.

Repair is another great one.  In many respects it takes the original three and combines it into one.   Repairing reduces the consumption of additional replacement items.  Repairing reuses the item.  Repairing recycles the item.

Some of the best innovation comes from the process of repairing products.  When I ran a manufacturing line, the process of repairing led to insights in product design, usefulness, and improvement.   We discovered where the real wear and tear in the system was thus allowing us to upgrade future generations of the product.  In some cases this allowed us to reduce our costs in subsequent generations as we learned what could be trimmed and what needed reinforcing.

GOOD magazine (good.is) posted a Repair Manifesto from Platform 21.  I especially like

#2 Things should be designed so that they can be repaired. ~  This fits nicely in the cradle-to-cradle philosophy.  Not only should they be able to be repaired, they should be able to be dis-assembled.

#5 Repairing is a creative challenge. ~ This means it works both sides of our brains, which tends to make work more stimulating and therefore more interesting work environment.  (social bottom line)

#7 To repair is to discover. ~ As I shared above in my own experience in a manufacturing company.

Part of the Rethink Waste series at Opportunity Sustainability
Copyright © 2009 Matthew Rochte ~ Share with attribution