Throw it in the gutter, and go buy another: Environmental waste in the fitness industry rampant.

A client asked me to repair their Department store brand treadmill (Private label made by Dyaco). It was from 2011 and needed a new motor control board, belt & deck.  Manufacturer came back saying parts no longer available.

The treadmill now must go to landfill - such a waste. 

I encounter situations like this almost on a weekly basis.  Another big reason a treadmill cannot be repaired is due to parts prices being too high, making a repair not financially worth doing.   On a recent trip to my City landfill, I saw no less than 3 treadmills in the steel scrap heap. 2 of them were less than 10 years old. People expect a longer lifespan, and rightly so. These machines are almost always repairable, if parts were available or sold at reasonable prices.

Here in Canada, a typical treadmill repair on a worn machine requires a new controller, belt and deck - on many machines these parts must come from the USA. These parts orders incur hefty brokerage and import fees along with the exchange rate. often the total cost to the client in parts alone is $600-$1000 CAD. Add labor to that and GST and you are often looking at a $800-$1200 cost to repair a $1000 -$1500 treadmill.  It makes zero financial sense to repair these machines, so they go to landfill.  For these reasons, I always advise clients to avoid brands sold in department/big box stores, and stick to ones that offer long warranties. 

I want to put the industry on notice - what are you doing to combat environmental waste with your products?  Are you willing to commit to parts availability for 15 years Minimum?  What are you doing to reduce the incredible amount of garbage created just from the packaging of your products (tremendous amounts of cardboard and styrofoam)?