M.E.C. Rules

When I worked at Canadian Tire, they would throw out thousands of dollars worth of perfectly good products and appliances into a secure dumpster so that no one else could benefit from them. I've heard of some companies even grinding up thousand dollar sets of golf clubs as well. Why do they do this? So that the new product (that which makes money) doesn't get cheapened by having it out in the world being used.

On my way to work this morning, I heard that MEC donated close to 5000 pairs of long johns to schools and native communities in the far north. Now, that is very nice of them, but this is why MEC "rules" in my opinion:

They gave those away because the long johns didn't live up to their recycling standards! Most companies throw these things out, but not MEC. Someone up north caught wind of this faulty shipment of clothing from China and simply asked if they could have some of them. MEC insisted that they take all of them and they shipped it free of charge.

This makes me happy. Someone very high up in the company made this decision. It wasn't a profit driven decision, but a moral one. Hopefully the bug catches, because this kind of thing is good from an environmental point of view but it's also great press for the company!

Way to go MEC!

P.s. If you can find the article about this, please let me know. I couldn't find it personally. I hate navigating the CBC website.

Don't fix it, get a new one....

Our dryer has been squeaking lately. The noise is unbearable, so I decided to replace the parts that needed replacing.

I proceeded to take apart the dryer, removed the rear rollers, and went to a sears outlet store and bought the over-priced yet necessary parts and a lint collector. That was about $70. Then, when I put the rollers on, I noticed that I needed to replace two little pieces (called a bearing kit) that consisted of a piece of cork and a special friction resistant plastic. Those cost $20 each!

When I found out the price, I called my landlord to inform him of the parts that I was about to buy and that everything would cost about $110. Unfortunately, I was reminded of North American society's consumer ideologies. Basically, his solution was to buy a new one for about $20 more and it would be under warranty. He wanted to pay only a small portion for the fixing of his dryer.

The fact that he wanted to replace it entirely was a blow to my day because I was reminded of how the world works. I was also disgruntled because I already took the initiative to fix this thing on my own without charging for any labour and only the cost of the parts. Essentially, I'd be saving him time, and money.

My personal dilemma with my landlord is not important in this entry. Actually, I don't really blame him for wanting to buy a new one. When our society is based on monetary competition, companies like Sears will charge ridiculous amounts for the most simple, yet necessary appliance parts. There is no incentive to fix your shit! I've always known this, and you have as well. But when the guy told me that this piece of cork and plastic was $20, I was hit hard with this re-realization.

Well, I'm going to fix this dryer. Since it is not my property, we will be trying to get reimbursed for it. If we don't, then I'll simply leave the parts that he paid for and take out the ones that I bought and replace the old, noisy rollers that I removed. Am I really that childish? Yes, I guess I am. I paid good money for those parts, and I have the right to take them with me. I may even go so far as to wash the grease that I bought off of the bearing shafts!

Anyways, the moral: fix your shit!!!

Addendum:

Coffee maker is on the fritz. I would like to fix it, but on the bottom there is a warning that says that there are no serviceable parts inside. I thought: "screw that, I'll fix it". So I turned it upside down, and ironically I can't "screw" that because it's a triangular screw! Who uses a triangular screw except for the good people as Bosch?

Pricks......