Consider a neighbourhood where everyone has a lawn to mow. The lawnmover companies want to increase (not reduce) sales. So we end up with everyone having their own mower, which sits idle 95% of the time, instead of one community mower that's shared by neighbours. It's just a little example, but it extends to everything.
1. Everybody wants to mow at the same time
2. Community goods are often treated careless, leaving me with a dirty or non-functional mower when it is my turn
3. Who is responsible for repairs
Off topic, but when I bought a new mower last year, I couldn't believe how far the technology has come. No more primer bulb, starts easily on the first pull, and a few other items I don't recall off the top of my head. Same with cars, for example if you get out of it while it is still in gear it automatically puts itself in park, and it can limp home with loss of coolant (it fires every other cylinder pushing air through the others for cooling).
Wow, this really cheered up my morning. Thanks.
It doesn't really let you operate with no coolant. Might get you farther before you die if you push it.
If the engine reaches a preset
over-temperature condition, the engine
automatically switches to alternating
cylinder operation. Each disabled cylinder
acts as an air pump and cools the engine.
When this occurs, your vehicle still
operates, however:
• Engine power is limited.
• The air conditioning system turns off.
Continued operation increases the engine
temperature, causing the engine to
completely shut down. Your steering and
braking effort increases in this situation.The neighborhood mower would cost 10x as much last just as long and serve the needs of 20 people - so a better deal in the long run. However what price are you willing to pay to not have to use the mower on your neighborhood's schedule - owning your own is probably worth it for you.
And over the long run, sharing lawnmowers wouldn't even reduce total lawnmower production. The shared lawnmowers would run more hours per week and need replacement sooner.
But, they're also a great example: we shouldn't have lawns which add nothing to the ecosystem and require resources to maintain.
[edited]
But plants are "weeds" and insects are "pests." So people spray neurotoxins, and see how much biodiversity they can destroy.
This is only true if people fully utilize their personal lawnmower before discarding it. I doubt this is the case. It seems that sharing would result in less discarding of under-utilized lawnmowers, and thus reduce the number of lawnmowers needed. Of course, I'm not saying anyone should be forced to do this.