The Right to Repair as a Global Environmental Issue

Sometimes global awareness and action begins with reading something unexpected that makes us pause and take another path.

Waaaaay back when I was a young adult in the 80’s, I (and everyone else) saw the “The More You Know” campaign developed for NBC by Dr. Rosalyn Weinman.

The Public Service Announcements (PSAs) were inspiring and thought provoking. Short messages were key. Just little encouragements for people to learn more about the world around them and actions they could take that were positive.

Have you ever heard of the “Right to Repair” movement? The idea seems fairly simple – you should be able to repair things you purchase without being forced to replace them.

It sounds simple enough, but this is about bigger issues than fixing your toaster yourself. It connects to larger conversations about waste, technology, consumer costs, sustainability, and how we as a society are so comfortable with throwing things away – and how businesses can sometimes encourage that action.

And it relates directly to SDG’s 9 (Industry Innovation and Infrastructure), 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), and 13 (Climate Action).

I am by no means an expert on this issue. Before reading this article, when we talked about environment and sustainable development, I thought about recycling, “paper vs plastic” and things like that – which are important, because every step helps. But there is also a bigger picture involving manufacturing, consumer habits, technology, laws, and the long-term impact of how much we throw away instead of repair.

We need to pay attention to the kinds of legislation and policies surrounding these issues, because many of them quietly develop in the background without most people realizing how they eventually will affect consumers, businesses, costs, and environmental impact.

I encourage you to read this article and others like it and research these things yourself. I know I will be doing just that.

The first step toward action can be as simple as learning something new.

The more YOU know.

Barbara J. Bozeman
ESD Committee

Read the article here: https://theconversation.com/todays-bans-on-diy-repairs-of-everything-from-cell-phones-to-tractors-grew-out-of-hollywoods-fear-of-videotaping-280990