Time to start fixing what we have

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 08/09/2023 (943 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

CANADA’S federal government is exploring a “Right to Repair” law, Bill C-244. Its ramifications affect every Canadian household.

Repairing appliances and electronics drastically reduces waste, allowing us to save money and reduce pollution, caused both by producing new items and discarding broken items in landfills.

When we moved into our new home, we found a 30-year-old refrigerator that had seen better days. We scrubbed it and used it until a transition could take place, and then called Manitoba Hydro to pick it up.

We bought a new refrigerator over a year ago. It was a behemoth. We were advised, due to the pandemic supply constraints, to buy what we could find promptly so we would have appliances when we needed it. Bought on sale, the refrigerator sat in our dining room for six months before we ever put our food inside.

We discovered we had an icemaker. New refrigerator technology was a surprise… so it was one of our kids who announced, six months later, that it had a flashing “0%” message, indicating something was wrong.

Behold, our refrigerator had a water filter that removed ‘water impurities.’ This filter must be replaced every six months to keep producing ice. It had a special electronic chip in it so the refrigerator could recognize it. There were no generic options. It cost $63. Continuing maintenance on this one appliance added up to an unexpected $126 or more a year… but I grumbled and ordered a new filter with the correct codes.

The $63 filter arrived in late July. We installed it but no ice was made. The refrigerator made an alarming “Wuh Wuh Wuh” noise that sounded like a large farm animal moaning. The message read “Error.” I found where we placed the order online and contacted them. The company gave no information about how to return a defective filter or make an exchange. Despite increasingly frustrated emails over several weeks, I found out reimbursement or exchange wasn’t easy. We reinstalled the old filter, gave up on having an icemaker, and tried to resolve the issues.

Weeks after this began, thoroughly frustrated, I bumped into a sympathetic neighbour. I wouldn’t spend another $63 without being reimbursed for the faulty filter… this was a racket. She mentioned that our water in Winnipeg was safe. Could we skip using this filter? It was just the icemaker. She had a point.

Through additional research, I learned our refrigerator had a “bypass plug” that supposedly came with it for free when purchased. Ours didn’t have one. The manufacturer indicated they would supply one only if we paid for it (approximately $30) as our one-year warranty was over. Whew! I’d gotten a two-year warranty from the appliance retail store. They agreed to send us this bypass plug for free. With multiple requests, I eventually got reimbursed for the filter. Roughly one hot summer month after our refrigerator stopped making ice, I installed the bypass plug. Halfway through August, 30 seconds after installation, our icemaker worked again.

We should ask what the environmental costs are to this charade. Our household was left with two plastic water filters, with chips inside, which can’t be easily recycled. Like a lot of e-waste, it will go the landfill.

Right to repair’s a bigger issue: When my bread machine broke, the manufacturer said they couldn’t sell parts. I’d have to buy a whole new machine. So, I replaced two tiny snap rings from the hardware store to fix my bread machine myself.

We can just buy new, but it should cost less, make less waste, and reduce pollution to fix what we’ve got. Companies who sell appliances, cars, and electronics have economic interests to protect when they promote a throw away and buy new culture. Instead, a “right to repair” should be essential to Canadians’ efforts to reduce pollution. Every repair saves money and waste. Reducing waste and pollution are steps towards slowing climate change.

Looking at our icemaker incident this way, we did fine without piles of ice this summer. When watching the wildfires, storms, and climate change devastation? Perhaps we need less ice, less pollution, and more rights to repair what we’ve got instead.

Joanne Seiff is an opinion author and writer from Winnipeg.