Repair for life
Repair should always be the first approach if thinking circular. It saves the most amount of energy and resources, by avoiding new production without having to reinvest cost and labour in the return and collection system and reprocessing. Sadly, nowadays, the incentive to repair is often diminished by very low prices for new products. Buy cheap primark shoes for ₤10 every 6 months, instead repairing them for ₤20. It makes sense to do this, but it shouldn’t. Fixing something should be cheaper than creating a whole new product. A beautiful example of a successful repair scheme is dr. martens ForLife boots and shoes, which come with a lifetime guarantee. They will repair or replace them for free for life. The boots cost ₤185, which is quite pricey, but considering the promise of free repair and replacement, this is the only investment you have to do for a looooong while. But why would dr.martens do this? They believe in quality and are rewarded for this with a high customer loyalty. Young people won’t be attracted to prices like this without another incentive. The free repair is exactly this incentive, green, sustainable and trustworthy. Trustworthy, because the customer knows now that the quality will be high, because dr.martens doesn’t want to go and repair their own shoes for free every couple of months. They even give you a free Wonder Balsam to care for the Hardlife leather, so that you won’t turn up too soon. And suddenly the incentives for durability, quality and good customer service are all there again. No planned obsolescence, just good boots, happy customers and sales.Save
