The last few years have seen somewhat of a renaissance in people adopting the ‘watch the pennies and the pounds will take care of themselves’ approach.
The trend of upcycling grew increasingly popular, fueled by celeb fans such as Kirsty Allsopp and TV programmes like 60-minute makeover, where not everything was bought from a shop, but rather redecorated to make it fit in with the new décor.
Experiencing a recession meant that many people had no choice but to tighten their purse strings, with programmes like ‘Superscrimpers’ and sites such as MoneySavingExpert.com becoming everyone’s go-to source of information.
However, recent research by Sugru has found that Britain’s failure to fix is costing us £4.6billion a year.
[bctt tweet=”Britain’s failure to fix is costing us £4.6billion a year.”]
The survey found that Brits spent an average of £89.38 last year replacing mendable items, footing a collective bill of over £4.6bn.
Only a third (33%) of adults reported they were thrifty enough to make a conscious effort to fix things, rather than throw them away, and over a quarter (28%) admitted to throwing away up to three household items last year that could have been repaired, with one in ten even claiming to have discarded up to six salvageable items.
The top ten thrown away items (% of UK adults which have thrown away a mendable item in the past)
- Kettle 24%
- Umbrella 21%
- Crockery 18%
- Charger Cable 16%
- Mobile Phone 12%
- Toys 11%
- Suitcases/bags/sleeping bags/jackets with broken zips 11%
- Toasters 9%
- Washing machine 9%
- Lamps 8%
Interestingly, Brits spent over £381 million fixing smashed phone screens last year, with one in six of those questioned saying they replaced a smashed screen at least once in 2015, footing an average bill of £44.82 each time.
But despite our apparent wasteful approach to our saveable items, three-quarters of Brits said they wished they were more able to repair their broken items. Money saving was the biggest motivation to mend, with 89% agreeing that they would like to fix items to avoid unnecessary spending replacing them.
Three-quarters (77%) said they would enjoy the problem-solving aspect to mending, and a similar percentage of respondents agreed they would like to fix more to avoid landfill.
To encourage Brits to fix up, Sugru is running a campaign to help us all realise our practical potential. Its ‘Hands On’ campaign highlights the complex movements we all do with our hands on a daily basis and how those same movements can be used for practical skills to fix and improve everyday items.
So, the next time you find yourself debating whether or not to ‘make do and mend’ or buy new, take a leaf out of Theodore Roosevelt’s book:
“Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”
And if that doesn’t work, then perhaps admit defeat and buy new; at least you can say you gave it your best shot!
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