the.com/disposability
the design promise that nothing is broken, only outdated, forever.
means the property of being cheap or convenient enough to throw away rather than repair, keep, or mourn.
from the word rides in on plastics after WWII, when petrochemical surplus met a booming consumer economy; Life magazine's 1955 feature 'Throwaway Living' pictured a family gleefully tossing plates in the air, calling the labor saved a form of liberation.
life magazine 1955celebrated throwaway living as freedom from washing dishes
bic lighterlaunched 1973, designed to be cheaper than refilling
planned obsolescencelightbulb cartel capped bulb life at 1000 hours in 1924
e-wastehumans discard over 50 million tons of electronics yearly
for instance
phoebus cartel — lightbulb makers agreed in 1924 to shorten bulb lifespan for profit
fast fashion — zara can move a design from sketch to shelf in two weeks
single-use plastic — the straw ban of 2018 made disposability a moral flashpoint
disposable camera — kodak's fling sold millions before digital made it nostalgic