Philip Jong

The rise of consumer technology in the information age has led to the growing concerns of the environmental impact of e-waste generated from discarded electronic devices that are no longer deemed to be useful. While recycling has helped to reduce the amount of e-waste reaching landfills and incinerators, a more durable effort to minimize the generation of e-waste might be to extend the usable life of these devices through repair or even restoration using suitable replacement parts made available by the original manufacturers. In recent years, the right to repair movement has gained prominence to empower consumers to repair devices which they legally own. Although the movement originated in the automotive industry, recent advancements have focused mostly on consumer electronics (including computers and smartphones) wherein incremental government regulations in both US and Europe have now enacted to protect consumers’ rights to make their own repairs. By contrast, no such regulations currently exist in Canada. Meanwhile, some manufacturers continue to employ anti-consumer practices, such as parts pairing, to try to limit repairability of theirs devices and to increase the cost of repair placed on consumers. As an avid user of consumer electronics, I am a strong proponent of initiatives that promote environmentally sustainable use of electronic devices by maximizing the lifespan of these devices through good maintenance and repair. In an era of hyper-consumerism, the right of repair movement is an apt antithesis to the endless cycles of planned obsolescence pushed by manufacturers onto gullible consumers.