Planned Obsolescence: A 'Crisis of Civilization'?

Can't wait to ditch that old phone, computer, car or sweater? You're a victim of planned obsolescence. As consumers, we often bemoan the poor quality of products, blaming manufacturers for deliberately designing them with a short lifespan. Then we scramble to buy the latest version of the hot new item. Planned obsolescence is a reality, and it's killing the earth, says Kamila Pope, a Brazil-based lecturer, researcher and lawyer with a specialty in environmental and bio-law. On this episode, she talks about her new book, Understanding Planned Obsolescence: Unsustainability Through Production, Consumption and Waste Generation. Pope relates how we became a consumer society, the survival of which depends on continuous growth (and consumption). And she lays out the price we're paying for our acquisitive ways. How about putting corporate executives in jail for making products that are designed to last only a short time? That's what regulators in the European Union and Brazil apparently want to do. But can an economy based on sustainable and long-lasting products survive?