How I hate Plastic Crap!

[flamingfingers]

We have been programmed to use plastic crap for decades. I have just thrown out my (probably) thousandth plastic ice cube tray. It's cracked, it leaks. What the H** else are you going to do with it but throw it out?

We 'used' to have a metal ice cube tray that had a handle you could use to loosen the ice cubes. Where did they go?

Have you tried to get into an appliance or a hand tool to see if you can 'fix' it? Even if you manage to get the casing off to look and you can 'fix' it, getting the &)(&) back together again is almost impossible because the housing is made of - you guessed it - PLASTIC and the screws don't hold the housing together. So what can you do? Throw it out!!

I have a 40-year-old stove in my apartment and if something goes wrong, I don't want a replacement. Why? Because this 40-year-old stove can be FIXED!! New ones.. not so much.

How can we get it through the heads of industry that we want things we use on a daily basis to be fixable instead of consigned to the dump?

Disgusted.

[GordonH]

Good luck finding anything that does not have some or all of it made from plastics (or some version of plastics).

[flamingfingers]

Good luck finding anything that does not have some or all of it made from plastics (or some version of plastics).

Umm, ya, that really was the point it was trying to make.....We have been programmed and essentially given no choice except to buy PLASTIC, thus ensuring our reliance on oil exrtraction... are you getting the picture yet?

[GordonH]

Good luck finding anything that does not have some or all of it made from plastics (or some version of plastics).

Umm, ya, that really was the point it was trying to make.....We have been programmed and essentially given no choice except to buy PLASTIC, thus ensuring our reliance on oil exrtraction... are you getting the picture yet?

Metal item can be found, it just matter of actually searching for them. They will come with a price tag that may or may not surprise you.
https://www.amazon.ca/Onyx-Stainless-St ... B0027V9OR0

[vinnied]

i almost spit my coffee out when i saw the price of that thing.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

I did not think the price was too bad, but i worked in the metal trades . Free shipping too.
It's stainless steel, last you the rest of your life.. 1.75 a year for 20 years.,

[normaM]

My Grandma had a metal ice cube tray.. you had to be a Wizard to fill and carry it, and have the strength of Paul Bunyan to free the cubes.
I'm sure there are things to do with cracked trays on Pinterest
I've never cracked one.. I let it sit on the counter a bit to unbrittle the plastic

[Grandan]

We have been programmed to use plastic crap for decades. I have just thrown out my (probably) thousandth plastic ice cube tray. It's cracked, it leaks. What the H** else are you going to do with it but throw it out?

We 'used' to have a metal ice cube tray that had a handle you could use to loosen the ice cubes. Where did they go?

Have you tried to get into an appliance or a hand tool to see if you can 'fix' it? Even if you manage to get the casing off to look and you can 'fix' it, getting the &)(&) back together again is almost impossible because the housing is made of - you guessed it - PLASTIC and the screws don't hold the housing together. So what can you do? Throw it out!!

I have a 40-year-old stove in my apartment and if something goes wrong, I don't want a replacement. Why? Because this 40-year-old stove can be FIXED!! New ones.. not so much.

How can we get it through the heads of industry that we want things we use on a daily basis to be fixable instead of consigned to the dump?

Disgusted.

My ice cube maker spits out ice all day long and I don't have to dump out the ice or bother refilling it. The old lever handle ice maker trays were aluminum not stainless and should be cheaper but there you go.
I took apart my hand blender the other day to see if I could get the go- switch to work. It took a while just to get it open because the screws were disguised under plastic caps but once inside, what do you do with a printer circuit board and a go switch that looks like a piece of small Lego?
I decided to toss it and replaced it with a "new" one from value village for less than $10 that had 2 speeds and a stainless steel housing. Repairing the old one was too time consuming with a doubtful outcome.
I have a gas kitchen range with no bells or whistles that will operate even when the power goes out. The industrial complex has turned us into consumers eager to get the latest feature on our appliances. A TV on our refrigerator? Perfectly good stoves are being tossed because they are "out of date" when half the world is still cooking over wood or coal fires.

[my5cents]

You hit the nail on the head, flaming. We are living in strange times.

Our governments preach reuse, recycle. We have half a dozen different categories of plastic bags each has different rules, but when it comes to appliances, the new ones don't last and can't be repaired, just replaced.

I gave up on plastic ice cube trays etc many years ago. I used to have a Tupperware celery keeper in the freezer and I'd fill it up with the proceeds of 4 plastic ice cube trays, so I didn't have to twist out ice cubes every time I made a drink.

Then came the ice cube maker, great invention, would never go back !

The irony, I did have one automatic ice cube maker pack it in. I though "oh boy this will cost". Ironically I think it cost about a $100 bucks and was child's play to remove the old and reinstall the new.

Like others I was surprised to see the metal ice cube tray $35 bucks for one !, considering one would need at least two ice cube trays, for a few more bucks one could buy an ice maker !

Oh, and the refrigerator ? As a kid for the first 20 years of my life I lived in a house with the same "fridge", never broke just kept going (granted probably took a ton more electricity than today's models).

I bought a new LG 3 years ago, it's seen the repair man twice (thank God for warrantee) already and he tells me that after, I think he said 8 years, they won't even make parts for it. …. and no, what keeps breaking is the door sealing strips, not the ice maker.

Time our politicians start addressing the large non repairable items that are built to last less than a decade.

We're faithfully sorting which type of plastic bag goes in picked up recycle, the garbage, or driven to the land fill recycle, all the will we are trucking huge less than 10 year old appliances to the dump.

[60-YEARS-in-Ktown]

I have an old ice cube tray, 3 wide , I got at a garage sale.
The separators I took apart for shims, they were the hardest aluminum.
I used the tray for many years for small parts , had a small dent on the bottom and eventually rubbed thru the grey coating.
Freaking solid copper tray and then plated., that would be an 80 dollar tray to build today..

[Hurtlander]

New appliances suck, they’re deliberately made not to last. Those crap front load washing machines only last five years because they use a plastic gearbox with plastic gears, the damn replacement gearbox costs the same as buying a new washer.. I’ve been using the same old school washer and dryer for 28 years, I’ve put two bushing kits and two belts in the dryer myself for about $50.00 bucks, and I’ve put two rebuilt transmissions in washer at $75.00 each. That’s 200.00 bucks my washer and dryer have cost me over 28 years, doing my own work. My fridge and stove are the same age, I’ve never spent a nickel on the fridge, and I’ve put a few elements in the stove top and oven..

[alanjh595]

I agree but, they look nice.
I have a glass top stove, what a pain to keep clean, next time it will be gas.
The front load washer needs to be dried out and the door has got left open for days after using it to make sure it is thoroughly dry, otherwise it will smell.
My fridge is genuine artificial stainless steel. It won't even hold a fridge magnet.

[Hurtlander]

I agree but, they look nice.
I have a glass top stove, what a pain to keep clean, next time it will be gas.
The front load washer needs to be dried out and the door has got left open for days after using it to make sure it is thoroughly dry, otherwise it will smell.
My fridge is genuine artificial stainless steel. It won't even hold a fridge magnet.

I’ve got some cast iron pans and a Dutch oven I use on a regular basis, so a glass top stove is out of the question for me. Another gimmick to get more money out of consumers pockets is those stoves with the induction elements, you need to buy special pots and pans or the induction elements won’t work.

[alanjh595]

I agree but, they look nice.
I have a glass top stove, what a pain to keep clean, next time it will be gas.
The front load washer needs to be dried out and the door has got left open for days after using it to make sure it is thoroughly dry, otherwise it will smell.
My fridge is genuine artificial stainless steel. It won't even hold a fridge magnet.

I’ve got some cast iron pans and a Dutch oven I use on a regular basis, so a glass top stove is out of the question for me. Another gimmick to get more money out of consumers pockets is those stoves with the induction elements, you need to buy special pots and pans or the induction elements won’t work.

I miss using my cast iron pans and dutch oven.

[flamingfingers]

Another gimmick to get more money out of consumers pockets is those stoves with the induction elements, you need to buy special pots and pans or the induction elements won’t work.

Stainless steel pots and pans are compatible. If a magnet sticks to the bottom and sides of the pot/pan it will work with induction burners. My daughter has a couple and I bought her pots that were up to this standard.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=inductio ... e&ie=UTF-8