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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Environment
Petra Stock

Appliances were once built to last - now they’re built to break. How do we fix it?

A survey found 85% of Australians wanted to know the expected lifespan of an appliance before they bought it.
A survey found 85% of Australians wanted to know the expected lifespan of an appliance before they bought it. Photograph: Jochen Tack/Alamy

Sometimes the smallest things get in the way of repairing a broken appliance.

“There might be one screw that the company owns the copyright to, so you can’t buy it anywhere,” says Rowan Barr.

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