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writing:repairability_in_solarpunk [2025/12/24 19:57] – JacobCoffinWriteswriting:repairability_in_solarpunk [2025/12/24 20:27] (current) – JacobCoffinWrites
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 Some of the language in this page will be a bit generic as it tries to cover everything from computers and washing machines to bicycles to pots and pans. As with all of these resources it's a work in progress and I'm happy to add more links, dedicated sections, and specific examples if you have something you think fits! Some of the language in this page will be a bit generic as it tries to cover everything from computers and washing machines to bicycles to pots and pans. As with all of these resources it's a work in progress and I'm happy to add more links, dedicated sections, and specific examples if you have something you think fits!
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 +====A change in ethos (incentive?)====
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 +I think in order to talk about how stuff might be made differently, it’s worthwhile to talk about the goals and incentives that structure what gets made today, how it gets made, and how different those goals and incentives might be in a solarpunk society. 
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 +I think there’s two broad categories to look at: the first is the goals and culture of the industry/engineers/designers/company owners responsible for what gets made, the second is the mindset, expectations, and needs of the people who buy and use the products.
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 ===Making things=== ===Making things===
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 In our present day, at least in wealthier nations, much of how we interact with //stuff// is through a siloed system of **extraction -> manufacture -> purchase -> use -> and disposal**. The companies that produce a thing generally don’t care what happens to it once it’s sold. Their only interest is in producing and selling things, and in making a bigger profit than last quarter. They’re not responsible for the long-term, societal and environmental costs of their product, or for what happens to it after it breaks down. In our present day, at least in wealthier nations, much of how we interact with //stuff// is through a siloed system of **extraction -> manufacture -> purchase -> use -> and disposal**. The companies that produce a thing generally don’t care what happens to it once it’s sold. Their only interest is in producing and selling things, and in making a bigger profit than last quarter. They’re not responsible for the long-term, societal and environmental costs of their product, or for what happens to it after it breaks down.
  
-Instead the rest of our society has stepped up - and subsidized them, in a way - by providing an elaborate system of waste management which whisks these unwanted things away out of sight, keeping the whole purchase -> disposal system convenient. The person who buys a short-lived appliance might find their frusturation at a bad product compounded by dump fees, but they can at least know that it will be hauled away from them and they won’t have to figure out what to do with it, or else see it every day. And so it is for all other stuff, from tech to appliances to furniture to the eternal packaging it all comes in.+Instead the rest of our society has stepped up - and subsidized them, in a way - by providing an elaborate system of waste management which whisks these unwanted things away out of sight, keeping the whole purchase -> disposal system convenient. The person who buys a short-lived appliance might find their frustration at a bad product compounded by dump fees, but they can at least know that it will be hauled away from them and they won’t have to figure out what to do with it, or else see it every day. And so it is for all other stuff, from tech to appliances to furniture to the eternal packaging it all comes in.
  
 And this is a huge part of the responsibilities of local governments, to the point that in some small towns, maintaining roads and operating some kind of dump or transfer station are almost their only real responsibilities. Bigger cities have to find suitable locations to store tremendous amounts of garbage, and create the massive lined (and eventually capped) pits which store our waste, operate fleets of trucks to gather and sort it all, and either build and run recycling centers or pay companies that do. It’s a lot of money and labor spent to make sure that buying something and throwing it away are both easy.  And this is a huge part of the responsibilities of local governments, to the point that in some small towns, maintaining roads and operating some kind of dump or transfer station are almost their only real responsibilities. Bigger cities have to find suitable locations to store tremendous amounts of garbage, and create the massive lined (and eventually capped) pits which store our waste, operate fleets of trucks to gather and sort it all, and either build and run recycling centers or pay companies that do. It’s a lot of money and labor spent to make sure that buying something and throwing it away are both easy. 
  
-And that default feeds back into manufacture – to some extent, things are produced with the expectation, even requirement, that they'll be thrown away. This leads to a lot of clever shortcuts, cost-cutting, and even intentional sabotage under titles like planned obscelescence or the use of sub-par custom parts. +And that default feeds back into manufacture – to some extent, things are produced with the expectation, even requirement, that they'll be thrown away. This leads to a lot of clever shortcuts, cost-cutting, and even intentional sabotage under titles like planned obsolescence or the use of sub-par custom parts. 
  
-Several people I talked to while looking for examples for this page recommended that I look into household stuff produced in the Soviet Union. While following up on that I stumbled onto [[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79R01141A002300080002-5.pdf|a report drafted by the CIA in 1962]]. They didn't have anything nice to say about the quality of Soviet appliances but they did have some interesting analysis of the Soviets' goals. They described what they considered to be an ambitious goal at the time: that by 1965 there would be one refrigerator for every five urban households, one washing machine for every three urban households, and one sewing machine for every two households, both urban and rural. +Several people I talked to while looking for examples for this page recommended that I look into household stuff produced in the Soviet Union. So far at least I haven't really found many major differences between them and stuff produced by other countries in the same time period (that doesn't mean they don't have great examples, I'm just having trouble finding stuff and that may come down to the fact that most of my searching is done in English). One thing I did find while following up on that was [[https://www.cia.gov/readingroom/docs/CIA-RDP79R01141A002300080002-5.pdf|a report on soviet appliance manufacturing drafted by the CIA in 1962]]. I think the most interesting thing there was their analysis of the Soviets' goals. They described what they considered to be an ambitious goal at the time: that by 1965 there would be one refrigerator for every five urban households, one washing machine for every three urban households, and one sewing machine for every two households, both urban and rural. 
  
 And that struck me as a very different way of looking at the production of goods. And that struck me as a very different way of looking at the production of goods.
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 This might be sounding a bit too state-run or top-down so lets look at other ways this sort of thing might be done. A more anarchist framework might involve open-source hardware designs, circulated freely and available to anyone who needs to make a thing. Picture something like thingiverse. This might be sounding a bit too state-run or top-down so lets look at other ways this sort of thing might be done. A more anarchist framework might involve open-source hardware designs, circulated freely and available to anyone who needs to make a thing. Picture something like thingiverse.
  
-If someone needs something they might go to their local fabrication workshop and ask them to make the thing (and work out whatever compensation fits your setting). The fab shop might pull down a design - perhaps this is just a highly-rated volunteer design, or, as in Ecotopia, it's been reviewed and approved by some form of government/panel of volunteers. They buy/scavenge the parts and materials and produce a one-off, or a short run of the product to meet local need, then move on to something else. This keeps the manufacturer’s incentives more or less in line with the societal good: their livelihood/existence isn’t dependent on people buying enough of the same thing every year, so they don’t need to convince people to throw out their old one and buy a new one (through advertising, planned obscelescense, or other sabotage). I think this can also be described as a move away from speculative production to a more on-demand system.+If someone needs something they might go to their local fabrication workshop and ask them to make the thing (and work out whatever compensation fits your setting). The fab shop might pull down a design - perhaps this is just a highly-rated volunteer design, or, as in Ecotopia, it's been reviewed and approved by some form of government/panel of volunteers. They buy/scavenge the parts and materials and produce a one-off, or a short run of the product to meet local need, then move on to something else. This keeps the manufacturer’s incentives more or less in line with the societal good: their livelihood/existence isn’t dependent on people buying enough of the same thing every year, so they don’t need to convince people to throw out their old one and buy a new one (through advertising, planned obsolescence, or other sabotage). I think this can also be described as a move away from speculative production to a more on-demand system.
  
 We’ll talk in the next sections about how these goods might be made fixable and durable, but if they become unwanted (maybe two people move in together, or someone dies) the item might be passed ad-hoc to someone who needs it, or it might be returned to the library economy – volunteers or employees would collect it, inspect it, clean it up or make repairs, and provide it to someone else. If it’s beyond repair for some reason, it would be stripped for usable parts and the remaining materials recycled. Ideally only a very small portion would end up needing forever-storage. This process could take place in a huge, futuristic facility, or tons of small workshops; it all depends on your setting. We’ll talk in the next sections about how these goods might be made fixable and durable, but if they become unwanted (maybe two people move in together, or someone dies) the item might be passed ad-hoc to someone who needs it, or it might be returned to the library economy – volunteers or employees would collect it, inspect it, clean it up or make repairs, and provide it to someone else. If it’s beyond repair for some reason, it would be stripped for usable parts and the remaining materials recycled. Ideally only a very small portion would end up needing forever-storage. This process could take place in a huge, futuristic facility, or tons of small workshops; it all depends on your setting.
  
-It’s important to note that there are some huge downsides to this kind of operation - a general fab shop will be far less efficient at producing any given thing than a dedicated facility. The dedicated equipment/layout, the pre-arranged supply lines for parts, the specialization and experience of the workers all play a huge role in producing a quality item as quickly and efficiently as possible. +It’s important to note that there are some huge downsides to this kind of operation - a general fab shop will be far less efficient at producing any given thing than a dedicated facility. The dedicated equipment/layout, the per-arranged supply lines for parts, the specialization and experience of the workers all play a huge role in producing a quality item as quickly and efficiently as possible. 
  
 With each new product, even a skilled fab shop crew will be relearning lessons other teams elsewhere already learned, and they'll burn a lot of time learning how to make each thing, and even just maneuvering it around their workshop.  With each new product, even a skilled fab shop crew will be relearning lessons other teams elsewhere already learned, and they'll burn a lot of time learning how to make each thing, and even just maneuvering it around their workshop. 
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 But if your setting doesn't need tons of an item per year, or can't sustain the long distance shipping necessary to cover a much wider area, then a dedicated operation might not be worthwhile.  But if your setting doesn't need tons of an item per year, or can't sustain the long distance shipping necessary to cover a much wider area, then a dedicated operation might not be worthwhile. 
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 +The other downside is in wait time - with speculative manufacturing, items are produced in anticipation of need and they're just waiting on a shelf when you decide you need one. This is great if you need it, but when demand is low, it leads to a lot of brand new items traveling straight from factory to warehouse to landfill without ever being used. 
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 +In an on-demand solarpunk society, you might be stuck waiting while someone downloads a design, finds parts, and assembles the thing. This is another place where a library economy shines - instead of an individual showing up at a fab shop to commission a new refrigerator, the workers at an appliance library might notice that they never have enough refrigerators in stock and commission some from the fabricators. Then when an individual needs a refrigerator, they can hopefully just go to the library and get one.
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