How long do you have until your xxxxxx is obsolete?

A key component of our consumer culture is something called Planned Obsolescence. This is the practice of intentionally designing a product so that it must be replaced after a certain amount of time. We see it all around us – iPods, phones, cars, clothes – most of the items we use on a daily basis are not truly made to last.

What about houses?

The original house here on the farm is over 400 years old and is still in great shape. Like many of the oldest buildings in the world, it is made from earth – in this case adobe (a clay, sand and straw mixture). The house is very comfortable, cool during the hot summers and warm in the winter. It also has that vibrant feel unique to earthen structures.

We’re all familiar with the term “they just don’t build them like they used to.” Do we ever stop and ask ourselves why? Like most things in our world, the answer is found in economics.

Let’s take the point of view of a building materials supplier. Does he make more money if your house lasts for 40 years or 400 years? Not exactly rocket science. And it’s not just the supplier but the hardware store, the builder, the plumber, and everyone else involved in the process (the politician?) of building or rebuilding homes.

We’re in the early stages of our new house here and we’ve decided to build with adobe. A lot of the young architects we know have strongly cautioned against this, as many adobe houses collapsed in this area after the 8.9 earthquake in 2010. It’s important to note, however, that most of these homes were not built or maintained properly.

For us the evidence is clear: when earthen structures are built correctly and are well maintained (good roofs that keep the material dry at all times), they are built to last.

There may be more to these young architects’ point of view than mere security. It’s similar to the young agronomist fresh out of university, well-learned in the science of buying GMO’s and dousing their fields with expensive chemicals year after year.

The universities (there may be a few exceptions) are not teaching young professionals to build homes that last 400 years. They are not teaching us to be independent and self-sufficient. Why not? No money in it. Corporate lobbyists dictate whose interests are protected by the policy makers who write the educational curriculum.

The corporations profit by creating dependence, paying off the lawmakers to set up our systems of education that produce ‘experts’ who will support their profit models.

In many areas of the developed world, natural building is severely restricted by codes that claim to promote safety. What do these codes really promote?

Planned Obsolescence = Dependence.

Not even to mention the effects of all the extra waste we produce by creating products that must be discarded after just a few years. If we are to stop burning up resources inefficiently while creating absurd amounts of waste we’ll need to reform our idea of higher education. The answer is evolving with technology and perspective.

Check out this project-based university that allows its students to create their own sustainable systems while earning a degree:

http://www.gaiauniversity.org/

TVP