Yes and no. Some things are actually on the sum total worse to keep in service- many older machines are woefully inefficient. You have yo calculate the resource costs to make an item and compare that to the life time use resource costs. So for example, electric vehicles have HUGE up front resource costs but over a span of continuous service for several decades- they will consume very few resources compared to most petrol and diesel vehicles. Of course in that example, the average electric car will likely not last long enough to actually make back the initial resource investment unless you put an obscene amount of miles on it- and if you put on miles you wouldn’t have put on if you didn’t have the electric car that too is a waste of resources comparatively. So repairing a 1989 Honda civic CRX base with its near 50mpg would likely be good for the environment and your wallet but keeping that 1965 F250 running probably less so.
On the while electronics tend to use most of their resources in creation and little over their lifespans. Keeping old electronics in use is generally a “green” practice provided they are being used for something of prudence or at least that you would have used a new device to do the same thing but now aren’t. Though this is more a matter of consumer habit and ego- needing new and better etc.
there also is a certain point where reality kicks in and you probably can’t repair your own items generally.
Many car engines now use technology similar to space craft in materials coatings and other areas. The chase for more efficiency and power and comfort etc. has to have sacrifices.
When your engine block is micro coated with a low friction film requiring a multimillion dollar machine to place at tolerances smaller than a human hair, you can’t really fix that reasonably.
Your electric car can easily kill you if you try to work on it. Perhaps the right to die if you make a mistake..
.. is something we should let people choose- of course the problem is that even knowing there is a danger Can require a level of knowledge many consumers do not posses so they often Can and do make mistakes without informed consent as they never knew the dangers because the dangers were advertised but they just didn’t pay attention. Even if you have that right- do you have the right to put others at risk? You can burn down your own home and your neighbors working on a EV, kill others. Improperly adjusted sensors and other equipment can easily cause death or damage.
It starts to become a larger issue- for example most places do not guarantee a right to drive and most of the developed world does require drivers to carry insurance because they can cause more harm than the average driver is likely to be able to make right financially.
So that then creates a question to the responsibility of persons doing self repair.
Should those conducting self repairs on certain types of devices be required to carry insurance against possible harms caused by their repairs or attempts to repair if things go poorly? What are the documentation and disclosure processes for self repair if any? How do you enforce any regulations on self repair?
there also is a certain point where reality kicks in and you probably can’t repair your own items generally.
Many car engines now use technology similar to space craft in materials coatings and other areas. The chase for more efficiency and power and comfort etc. has to have sacrifices.
When your engine block is micro coated with a low friction film requiring a multimillion dollar machine to place at tolerances smaller than a human hair, you can’t really fix that reasonably.
Your electric car can easily kill you if you try to work on it. Perhaps the right to die if you make a mistake..
So that then creates a question to the responsibility of persons doing self repair.
Should those conducting self repairs on certain types of devices be required to carry insurance against possible harms caused by their repairs or attempts to repair if things go poorly? What are the documentation and disclosure processes for self repair if any? How do you enforce any regulations on self repair?