From the middle of last century until today we have become the "throw away society". Buzz words like "disposable" and "one-use" have been commonplace. Where we used to "make do and mend" in the war years we now simply replace items that are no longer functioning or are no longer wanted. Now this is great if we have an everlasting supply of clean energy to make replacement goods and bottomless land fill sites. But we have neither.

In poorer countries this problem is negligible as most spending goes on food and essential items, leaving very little to be thrown away. More affluent societies, however, are at last beginning to wake up to the fact that the throw away lifestyle is not sustainable.

How did we get here? Several factors have conspired to bring about our disposable disposition. The main one is affluence. As western societies became richer, the demand for goods rose. Also, our salaries rose. Manufacturing needed to be faster at pumping out goods. Product design and work practices needed to be changed to accommodate increased volumes and in an affluent society it is hard to recruit and maintain the staff needed to keep these places going. As a result, the factories were located in poorer states at increasing distances from the end user. Electrical and mechanical goods were made with ever fewer serviceable parts to the point where some goods these days are totally sealed and repair is just not possible.

In days gone by a factory would produce finish goods and do a good side business in supplying parts to customers or repair shops. In affluent countries those days are gone taking with them the watch repairer, the radio (and tv) repair man, the cobbler etc etc. Even replacing the battery in an electric wrist watch is often virtually impossible.

Many authorities around the world are now trying to put the brakes on this trend and even trying to reverse it. They are asking for products to be designed to allow repair and parts replacement. In some areas - take Europe for example - they are introducing legislation that will force companies to take back (or at least take responsibility for) goods at the end of their life.

I am firmly of the opinion that, as this sentiment takes hold - and surely it will, we will be slowly warped back to the old days of repair shops and an increasing trade in spare parts. I am also convinced that this mini revolution is nearly upon us.

So have a walk down your local high street or shopping centre because it may look a little different in coming years with cobblers, watch menders and tv repair shops making a come back.

Of course, there have been some companies that bucked the throw away trend. Insect-o-Cutor have always provided spare parts for their fly killer machines. An Insectocutor fly killer can often go many years without needing any special servicing (they are guaranteed for 5 years in any case). If, however, they do need a spare part, then these are readily available from Arkay Hygiene at www.eeeee.co.uk. This availability is partly explains why it is common to see Insect-o-Cutor products working after 20 or even 30 years. In fact some Insect-o-Cutor fly killers from the 1960's are still around and doing and excellent job.