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| writing:repairability_in_solarpunk [2026/01/18 17:02] – JacobCoffinWrites | writing:repairability_in_solarpunk [2026/02/04 03:05] (current) – JacobCoffinWrites |
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| 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 in a landfill. 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 in a landfill. This process could take place in a huge, futuristic facility, or tons of small workshops; it all depends on your setting. |
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| Conventional wisdom is 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. | Conventional wisdom is 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. |
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| 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. And these efficiency losses aren’t just made in person-hours and minor injuries – this slower, less-specialized work means more electricity spent running tools and lights, parts and materials wasted through accidental damage. All of this may come with an environmental cost (in extraction or pollution) depending on how the larger society creates energy and sources materials. | 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. And these efficiency losses aren’t just made in person-hours and minor injuries – this slower, less-specialized work means more electricity spent running tools and lights, parts and materials wasted through accidental damage. All of this may come with an environmental cost (in extraction or pollution) depending on how the larger society creates energy and sources materials. |
| * For my own anecdote, I've seen a {{:writing:37360394_1-1255170388.jpg?linkonly|big industrial mixer}} in a bakery run daily for years with no maintenance and put up with all kinds of abuse while little countertop KitchenAids (supposedly the consumer-grade top-of-the-line) burned out routinely. | * For my own anecdote, I've seen a {{:writing:37360394_1-1255170388.jpg?linkonly|big industrial mixer}} in a bakery run daily for years with no maintenance and put up with all kinds of abuse while little countertop KitchenAids (supposedly the consumer-grade top-of-the-line) burned out routinely. |
| * This can be applied to all kinds of other appliances - commercial washing machines used by laundromats and hotels, kitchen appliances and tools used by restaurants, tools intended for mechanics, factories, or metal shops, and even exercise equipment designed for gyms rather than home use. | * This can be applied to all kinds of other appliances - commercial washing machines used by laundromats and hotels, kitchen appliances and tools used by restaurants, tools intended for mechanics, factories, or metal shops, and even exercise equipment designed for gyms rather than home use. |
| * Old Stuff - if you look around a mechanic's shop, it's not uncommon to see a Sears Craftsman Drill Press from the 1940s, or some other tool that's been used for generations (I once saw a drill press whose column was a metal pipe which had been cemented right into the floor! If that's doesn't demonstrate trust that a thing will last I don't know what does.). To some extent this stuff has already been winnowed down by survivorship bias, but it also exemplifies a lot of the qualities which make a thing both durable and fixable. I've seen consumer-grade washers and dryers from the late 1970s still limping along in some homes too. | * [[https://drive.google.com/file/d/1wspYo94xr4hufTOFfSjnltoTc6-DCXRs/view?usp=drivesdk|Old Stuff]] - if you look around a mechanic's shop, it's not uncommon to see a Sears Craftsman Drill Press from the 1940s, or some other tool that's been used for generations (I once saw a drill press whose column was a metal pipe which had been cemented right into the floor! If that's doesn't demonstrate trust that a thing will last I don't know what does.). To some extent this stuff has already been winnowed down by survivorship bias, but it also exemplifies a lot of the qualities which make a thing both durable and fixable. I've seen consumer-grade washers and dryers from the late 1970s still limping along in some homes too. |
| * It's important to note that generally older devices were much more fixable because they were so much simpler and that simplicity came with fewer features, fewer settings/modes, fewer safety considerations, and fewer concessions to efficiency. | * It's important to note that generally older devices were much more fixable because they were so much simpler and that simplicity came with fewer features, fewer settings/modes, fewer safety considerations, and fewer concessions to efficiency. |
| * If you'd like a good example of these differences, compare an antique sewing machine to a modern one - the older one is much easier to fix (the motors are often entirely external and easily replaced) but it'll jam more often, makes sewing your fingers to the fabric easy, and good luck using it on heavy canvas, spandex, t-shirts, or any of the other odd fabrics they've developed special modes for. | * If you'd like a good example of these differences, compare an antique sewing machine to a modern one - the older one is much easier to fix (the motors are often entirely external and easily replaced) but it'll jam more often, makes sewing your fingers to the fabric easy, and good luck using it on heavy canvas, spandex, t-shirts, or any of the other odd fabrics they've developed special modes for. |
