You can buy a pair of scissors — metal blade, plastic handles — from supermarkets or shops like Kmart for under $5. You can buy a set of 48 plastic pegs from the same places for around $3. You can buy a 12-pack of razors for under $10. And you can buy a 10-pack of ballpoint pens for under $5.

While they may not last for long, there is clearly a market for these short-lived functional items. There is, in fact, a huge market and it forms a big part of the industry known as ‘Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCGs)’. 

FMCGs are really any items that are sold quickly (hence, ‘fast moving’), affordable and non-durable and therefore need to be replaced on a regular basis. Basically, most things you would buy at your standard supermarket. In Australia, the leading FMCG companies are internationally owned, and include Unilever, Proctor & Gamble, Nestle, Johnson & Johnson and Mars.

While FMCGs include many items that are understandably short-lived because they are literally consumed, FMCGs also include items that really need not be short lived like scissors, pegs, razors and pens. In all these cases, there are alternatives you can opt for that will last far longer than your average cheap buy, maybe even a lifetime.

Items that are made to last have more to offer than just being long lasting, and therefore easier on the environment. In most cases, by virtue of being made to last, they are just better quality than their disposable counterparts. So, they are more reliable and more efficient at the job they are doing, often more aesthetically pleasing and, in some cases, their better design makes them a pleasure to use. Personally, there really is nothing more satisfying than cutting through fabric with a pair of really good quality scissors — for me, the sound is the exact opposite of nails down a blackboard.

Obviously, these items come at a cost — the outlay is far more than if you grabbed a disposable or non-durable version. But when you consider the ongoing cost of, say, purchasing new plastic pegs almost yearly, compared to the outlay for stainless steel pegs that will last your whole lifetime (if you don't lose them!), the durable version makes a lot of economic sense. 

Many companies who manufacture or stock these items recognise their durability too, often offering long-term (10 years or more) or even lifetime guarantees. Bear in mind that while the majority of these items are internationally manufactured and need to be imported, so are many of the disposable FMCG options. At least the longer lasting items won’t be clogging up our local landfills.