Letter: Green machines make sense

Sir: So we "say one thing and do another" when choosing green washing machines, televisions and cars (leading article, 11 December). This is hardly surprising, for usually there is little alternative.

Nobody wants to buy a product that breaks down quickly, and then needs to be thrown out because replacement parts aren't available. Yet how often do we have the option of choosing a product that is built to last, and designed to be repaired, reused and recycled? We need to make dramatic cuts in our use of raw materials. By making things last twice as long, we would be using half as much - that would be a start.

To do this, we need legislative changes to ensure that products are designed to make sense for the environment and sense for consumers.

Dr ANNA THOMAS

Waste Campaigner

Friends of the Earth

London N1