In reading a well-articulated yet unsurprising article on the eco-friendly sub-trends emerging in 2009 by TrenWatchers, I was reminded of a non-profit idea I had decades ago. We all throw out things we shouldn't. The VCR remote that has a single broken button, the microwave that simply had its turntable belt snap yet still warms food fine or the laptop with the broken screen. Naturally, the "repair vs. buy a newer better version" decision is one that we have traditionally chosen to favor cost over environmental responsibility. What better excuse is engrained upon consumers than "if it's broken, don't fix it. Buy a new one?" As we see the perils of this shortminded logic come to the forefront of politics, I can't help but think about a primitive idea I had. What if we could begin to explore repairing items and craftsmanship again in the United States and other developed nations? Why is it that we can't repair the microwave in today's day and age? Becauase it costs you $100 dollars just to have a technician (if one even exists in your town) look at your microwave, when you could buy a brand new one from China, albeit of crap quality that will fail in a year, with some new trendy feature of allure. I thought about this on my commute as my bus rolled past a TV and Electronics repair store, in shambled and definintely without marketing investment since the 1960s. Transistors and tubes anyone? I won't go into the obvious follow on costs that we as a nation are oblivious too when chosing to buy the new microwave: the cost of waste, removal, impact on the environment, lost service revenue and economic stimulus for the repair person, etc. I can hear the greed-driven counter argument from capatalism: if consumers were taught to spend less, how would that adversely affect the economy? Simple: it would hurt China's trade surplus and corporate shareholders, it would only help local consumers.

"We are living in a false economy where the price of goods and services does not include the cost of waste and pollution," Lynn Landes, Founder and Director of Zero Waste America.

Fact is, we are finally coming to terms with the 1980s "greed is good" lifestyle and the hangover is sobering. With less and less value creation occuring within US borders and as a result of true US GDP (hint: try adjusting our GDP for goods produced locally with local resources, very enlightening) we are simply siphoning the consumer spend out of this nation. Now, this is a gross over simplification of a long term trend towards globalisation, and taking advantage of labor price differences. The US auto-industry is a great example of our failures to capatilise on local resources and ingenuity. But I digress. This train of thought made me recall an idea about leveraging labor price differences in developing countries for the sake of good. Imagine the possibility that these often discarded yet serviceable goods were made availible for repair. Based off of the model of self-sufficiency, capatlist farming schemes used in Africa to teach economics to fringe villages, this method could be applied to harnessing the latent value in all things we typically call "garbage." Instead of filling up landfills, goods in need of minor repair could be donated for free to these trade schools and the students would learn vocational skills to repair these household goods: either selling the refurbished unit or simply donating to needy homes. Although a microwave may not seem necessary to the average sub-Saharan tribal villager, these goods could be of value to neighboring cities and metropolitan areas in poor socioeconomic standing.The students in return get vocational and business skills necessary for partaking in the global economy. Naturally, there are many hurdles: logistically transporting tons of microwaves and washing machines from other nations, funding for the teachers, incentivization for donations, etc. By no means small hurdles. However, at some point, self-sufficient agriculture is not going to be a feasible trade for villagers looking to enter society as whole. This could simply be another venue for value creation, fortunately out of thin air. Please, send your thoughts and poke holes in the idea. Its far from pefect, so I'd love to hear your thoughts on making it so.