In today’s world, many individuals tend to discard broken and defective products and replace them with new versions, while the older generation often fix these items to reuse. However, I believe that there are various reasons behind this trend, and several negative impacts on the environment can be driven by these actions.
On the one hand, technological advancements is one of the main reasons leading to the increasing demand for new goods. In modern society, people can have greater access to various items and alternative sources produced by companies, which are more affordable for consumers. Many options with varying quality and different prices allow individuals to easily replace broken goods by new ones, promoting user convenience and accessibility. This is compared to the past, when consumers had less choice and limited quantity of necessary items, forcing them to repair goods for repurposing. Another notable shift is that many people nowadays strive to keep up with the latest trends. For instance, these people frequently upgrade technological devices, such as mobile phones, laptops or even earphones, to build up fancy images toward the public.
On the other hand, I believe that there are several detrimental effects contributing to the environment by unnecessarily wasting products. First and foremost, manufacturing new goods requires a vast amount of valuable resources, especially natural energy. These demands would heavily damage the environment while increasing harmful pollution and devastating the ecological system. Many businesses may cause deforestation and release more carbon footprints when producing items on a large scale. Furthermore, as individuals would significantly replace their broken goods, they may generate more waste released into the environment, including products containing toxic chemicals. All of these actions can affect directly to the air and even contaminate other sources, resulting in the the cause of related diseases like lung cancer and cardiovascular.
In conclusion, while modern society and temporary trends make individuals have more options to adjust their broken goods, I still believe that this situation brings significant disadvantages for the environment. Consequently, continuous replacement by new items may also discourage consumers from developing a long-sustainable lifestyle.