I understand that this is an oft-repeated meme, but what are these mountains of products that go to the landfill in six months, and who has the money to buy them?
Fast fashion, costumes, holiday decorations and props, organizational solutions, non-heirloom[0] electronics.
[0] not sure what the term of art here is, but flash drive, charger, cables, remotes, even monitors and TVs rather than designer record players, home entertainment systems etc
Generally, I think it's a mistake for anyone to generalize about the purchasing habits of millions of people, but I can list a few examples of disposable merchandise:
(Imagine most of these things costing under 5-10$)
* Toys for children that break very easily (wind up toys, small non-metal cars, plushies)
To answer your question about who can afford to buy them: In my own experience it's people who can't afford to buy better made, more expensive products. If you've ever, say, bought very cheap pair of earbuds or charging cable, and had it die in a month, that is the sort of product in question.
It might make more logical sense to "buy right, instead of buying twice", but there are times where someone is either in a jam, or can't afford to get the quality version.
None of this stuff remotely makes up 'half the products shipped internationally', by value or volume.
And just because something is cheap crap, it doesn't mean that it gets thrown out. I have seen a lot of crap cutlery in my life (when visiting friends), but I always see the same crap cutlery when I visit them. They keep it for years, because shitty as it is, it does what it is meant to. The only time it gets binned is when they replace it with a keep-it-for-life, quality purchase. Likewise for garden equipment. There's a lot of crap out there, and for most people, it suits their needs. They aren't professional gardeners, they only need these tools a few times a year.
I have a shitty toolkit. I'm not a carpenter, I'm not a mechanic, and it's all I need.
I think a possible clue would be to look at the products that pile up in peoples homes, but are essentially cast off or unused. Home space is a staging area for the landfill, if not an outright landfill.
And guilty as charged. I could go through my house and tell you the stuff that I shouldn't have bought, or that had a very short useful lifespan due to changing interests or buying ahead for things that I ended up not needing.
