I have both Lodge cast iron and Le Creuset Dutch ovens. Unless you want to pay for the Le Creuset look (and they are lovely), Lodge is the much better deal. My Lodge is used constantly, is old, is in great shape.

Did you ever watch Mr. Ed? It's hilarious. And a very catchy tune I can still hear in my head.

I have had All Clad and Demeyere which are similar functionally though I like the look of the Demeyere better. I tried copper - never again.

Oh dear, I am super frugal but I can't resist trying a new hair straightener. I need to go sit in the corner humbly and not buy a CHI because I don't need one. But good to know for the future :)

My Speed Queen has an agitator, works very well. It's about 5 years old. It has no software so it should last a long time.

My grandparents had a similar looking coal burning stove (not exactly but reminiscent). Coal is bad I know - this was a long time ago. They had no money and my grandfather would buy one big cheap load of coal every year, and they were warm through the cold Ohio winter. I never remember a different stove so I think it must have lasted a long time. (Coal is bad but nothing makes a cozier kind of warmth.)

This is what I was going to suggest. I have one that has been literally all over the world (soft-sided) and I still use it, absolutely no problems after 20+ years. I bought a new, slightly smaller one recently and it appears to also be very well made.

Threads are messed up and I was not able to easily get that handle as I said. Anyway, I love my flowerpot and it was a blessing in disguise.

Yes, good point, but in practice it was hard to make this happen and I just gave up. They would not just send me the needed part in the mail and I had to drive around, etc.

I have a LeCreuset dutch oven in the old flame color that the handle fell off. (It's 30 yrs old.) I made some efforts to replace it but got frustrated. I stored it in the garage, then one day I needed a nice flower pot for my front porch. Hauled out the old thing, put a lavender and some orange/yellow lantana in it, and it looks spectacular! I know this is not what you should do with an expensive pot but I honestly enjoy seeing it so much.

Thanks for these thoughts. It's hard to measure environmental impact. But aggregate numbers say nothing about my individual dryer. Adding the risk that I will buy a dryer that will not last as long as my current one. There are many reasons the footprint is reduced in Europe that have nothing to do with home appliances. Industry/transport are the big numbers. And there are costs for putting appliances in landfills. The delta between my dryer and a new one might be rather small. Just because something is an improvement does not mean it's a big improvement. A new dryer in the US comparable to what I have is about $900. I don't think 8 years is quickly!

It rarely makes sense to throw away a working appliance to save something on power. Environmentally it is a negative. My dryer is 21 years old (similar model) and I'm not going to replace it to save 10 bucks a month on power. Of course my power is cheaper in the US than in Europe.