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We live in a throw-away society, where far too often products are designed for disposability rather than longevity. Instead of repairing and maintaining malfunctioning parts, we’ve become accustomed to tossing them out and seeking replacements. Not only is this bad for the planet, but also it’s expensive and impractical. Do you want to throw out a $50,000 drone when the connector fails? Of course not. You need your connectors to last. At Positronic, we know that the long-term reliability of connectors is more important now than ever before. We will continue to play our part by designing connectivity solutions that are rugged, dependable, easy to repair, and built to last. Reducing waste is difficult. By providing high-quality equipment that is designed to last for as long as possible, Positronic can help you avoid the throw-away mentality – at least when it comes to your connectors.

What Is a Throw-Away Society?

A throw-away society is one in which people frequently use disposable goods and packaging, single-use items, and products generally not designed for re-use or long-term use. It is strongly influenced by consumerism. These days, the term “throw-away society” conveys a critical attitude toward the overconsumption and excessive production of disposable and short-lived items as opposed to long-lasting and repairable goods.

How Did We Get Here?

The root of the issue developed after World War II, when America experienced a massive upsurge in mass consumption. Many families began purchasing items with disposable packaging and marveling over convenience goods and new plastic products. When Life Magazine first coined the term “throwaway living,” they were actually promoting the lifestyle, touting its ease and convenience. Postwar consumerism was applauded as a patriotic contribution.

Over time, this consumption-led lifestyle led to America becoming a throw-away society. It also led to widespread “planned obsolescence,” which is the act of creating products or parts that are designed to fail and require replacement. By creating products with deliberately short lifespans, companies may force consumers to shell out more money for replacements. Sometimes this practice is an inevitable consequence of catering to consumers’ wishes for better, newer products; other times, it’s used primarily to benefit the manufacturer’s bottom line. Whatever the goal, it produces an extravagant amount of waste, the vast majority of which will inevitably end up in a landfill.

Reducing Waste with Quality Connector Construction

Electrical connectors are expected to perform flawlessly in a variety of adverse environments, often confronting obstacles like high humidity, excessively high temperatures, and mechanical stress (such as vibration, shock, sustained bending, and repeated mating and unmating). Whether they’re transferring power in an Emergency Room, traveling to outer space, or supporting military equipment, connectors are expected to perform reliably. For as long as possible, they must resist common failure modes, which include the following:

• Increased contact resistance
• Connector shell and key damage
• Mis-mating and circuit damage
• Excessive wear, resulting in intermittent or open connections
• Insulation breakdown
• Damage to non-metallic components
• Corrosion

As an electronic product engineer, you may need to determine whether a connector is a weak point in your design. Have you chosen the wrong connectivity solution? Does the connector reduce the product’s reliability and ruggedness, or ensure it lasts as long as possible? Choosing to purchase reliable and long-lasting connectors isn’t just an important way to reduce waste and reject throwaway culture; it can also help end-users avoid downtime, prevent sudden stress, and reduce unnecessary costs.

At Positronic, we believe in crafting versatile, high-quality connectors. Our design and manufacturing processes meet and often exceed our customers’ needs for quality and reliability. And to suit the needs of our varied customers, we have a plethora of options available. If you would like to request product recommendations, locate a sales agent, ask a technical question, or simply request a quote, please contact Positronic today.