Sustainability

 

Planned Obsolescence?

 

What is planned obsolescence? 

Planned Obsolescence is defined as: a policy of producing consumer goods that rapidly become obsolete and so require replacing, achieved by frequent changes in design, termination of the supply of spare parts, and the use of nondurable materials.

Sound familiar? Granted, many companies make high quality products. But very few of them have a policy in place for what is referred to as 'end of life'. i.e. what do I do when my thing breaks or becomes irrelevant? 

Some brands, like North Face and Patagonia allow customers to send in old items for repair or in some cases replacement.

We like this... we like this a lot. So much in fact we want to offer a similar policy, one we call Planned Obsolescence Protection or POP. 

Think of POP as an insurance policy for your product and the environment. 

POP

• If you get a new phone or device that requires a different type of connector, send your old cord back and receive a new one (with the correct connector) for free.
• If your Dusty cord breaks or becomes defective we will send you a new one  free of cost.
• In this scenario, we ask that you please send your old one back to be recycled/repurposed. Honor system here, team!  
• POP is included automatically with every purchase of a Dusty.co product (no subscription fees).
• POP lasts forever 
• In both POP scenarios the buyer is entitled to one free 'future' cord per purchase. 
• Proof of purchase is required to invoke POP. 

 

 

THICK AF

 

If you take a look at a Dusty cord, you will notice something... they are chunky. I mean these bad boys are thicccc.

Most braided cords you find on the market are made by tightly weaving small threads around the cord. 

Dusty cords are hand sheathed in a thick and soft rope. The cords hang relaxed and break in over time (kind of like your favorite hoodie or pair of jeans!).

The rope we use to cover our cords comes from local manufacturers here in New England. Most of our ropes are made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles (rPET). 

Our cords are 3-5x thicker than your run of the mill cable. Not only does this thickness provide an extra layer of durability, but it also makes them stand out in a crowd.

 Assembled in the USA

 

I am not going to lie to y'all. I spent a long a** time trying to find a way to get the cables themselves made in America, but it's more or less impossible (for now). Most of the materials and factories they need to make cables only exist abroad (mostly in China).

That said, besides the naked cables themselves, Dusty cords will be assembled, packed and shipped here in the USA. Big win!  

Conclusion

 

We want our community to love our products as much as they love their favorite hoodie. 

When you love your cord, you're less likely to just chuck it in the trash when it's no longer relevant or forget it when it's plugged into the airport socket.

While it may not seem like much, when you don't forget your cord at the airport you: 

A. do the environment a favor by diverting that cord from the trash (you think the airport keeps those chargers for when you come back?). 

B. have better chance of not being Uber-less at the Arrivals section because your phone died and you didn't have a charger on the plane.... that sucks 

We believe, when done at critical mass, can make a difference in the future of our planet.