Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: My final comments on ...

[King Collins (greenmac]

David Hungerford says:

>Just to point out that the lives of "durable" goods are shorter if they are
>used more, so if a washing machine has X number of loads it is capable of
>washing before disintigrating, if 10 _average_ families use one, it should
>wear out 10 times as fast. (They probably don't wear out that fast, but they
>would wear out faster--it must work something like highway miles on cars) .
>Camping equipment usually gets replaced by newer, cooler, designs when some
>major failure (busted zipper, lost pole) occurs, a more frequent occurance if
>many people use them.  It's possible for cohousers to consume in ways they
>wouldn't have been able to (more camping trips, better camping equipment,
>more CDs) due to the economies of sharing some expenses, like the ones
>mentioned above.   Actually, I agree with Kevin in principle, we CAN use less
>if we CHOOSE to use less, but that is a larger committment we have to make
>whether we live in cohousing or not--although cohousing does make it easier

My thought is that indeed some cosumer durables might not be appropriate
for community use because they are not built to last. However,  washing
machines and other appliances are also produced for industrial use and
dollar for dolar are usually a better value.

These are matters that a community learns as it grows.

I hope the co-housing movement grows wildly. It poses questions in so many
important areas!