WASHINGTON — After Dyani Chapman’s refrigerator broke, her landlord replaced it with a new one, a cheaper route than fixing the original. When her phone’s screen cracked, Chapman faced a similar dilemma.
“When I went in and asked to get it fixed,” repairing the screen would have cost close to the bill for a new phone, said Chapman, state director for Alaska Environment, an advocacy group. “It’s not even worth it.”
In an era of nearly ubiquitous electronics, Chapman’s experience is common.
You buy a gadget. You use it until it breaks. You go to the company that makes it. The company offers to repair it or sell you a new gadget at a similar price. New gadget in hand, you use that one until it breaks, and the cycle repeats.
While this loop helped catapult disposed electronics into the fastest-growing source of waste in the country, according to the EPA, there is bipartisan congressional interest behind bills to make it easier for average citizens to repair what they own, a potential boon to consumers and the environment.