At one time, durable goods were large ticket items meant to be purchased once or perhaps twice in a lifetime. Refrigerators were designed to last for 50 years. I know, as I am currently using a 1958 model to keep our family beer keg cool. Similarly, automobiles were designed to last for decades. It was not uncommon for people to see a 1955 Buick or Chevy still motoring contentedly in 1970, especially in the generation prior to mine. My grandfather actually drove a 1960 Lincoln until the gas crisis in 1973, and even then, it was handed down to my uncle. He sold it in 1990. That's 30 years of use out of that car. I cannot find a 1980 Honda on the road today, can you guys?

Today, it is difficult to find truly durable goods. For example, try to buy a can opener that will last 30 years. It is a very simple item, yet the only place I could find one that actually measures up is through commercial kitchen sales. Retail has nothing comparable.

Try to find a blender that has a strong and durable blending container and unbreakable drive teeth. Again, you have to resort to commercial designs - even the high-end retail models only use plastic drive teeth, and usually have a plastic blending container.

I buy a lawnmower every 3 or 4 years. Why? Because the basic simple mower, with no frills, only lasts that long. Either the motor seizes, the carbeurator craps out, or the blade-stop mechanism glitches up. Repairing any of those costs the equivalent of buying a new basic mower. My Dad still uses an old Tecumseh 3-1/2HP 4-stroke mower he bought in 1978...

Planned obsolence has become an integral part of the consumer economy, and this has figured into the automotive industry in a big way. 40 years ago, you could buy a simple car, like the Plymouth Valiant with their slant-6 engine. It would easily run for 250,000 miles. At that point, an engine rebuild would be done, and another 150,000 miles or so could be had from the car. This is a great return on the original oil invested in the construction of the car.

I see, as part of the problem, that the EROEI we get from our durable goods has declined substantially. When one considers all the items used in the standard family existence, then multiply by the population, this is probably a decline in EROEI of signifigance. If we then add in business hardware with the same planned obsolence, this may well be a large source of increased consumption that is essentially hidden in the statistics.