This is lifetime product accountability. Germany has done this for three years with automobiles, and Daimler-Benz and BMW are still very healthy corporations. In the sell-buy paradigm, the manufacturers have product liability only when people are harmed and they are found liable by societies juries. These costs are not considered or are assumed to be trivial or immaterial. The ecosystem is not infinite in its ability to accept waste, depletion and encroachment.
Higher education has a choice.
We can ask carpet, furniture and personal computer manufacturers to change and use this change to their competitive advantage. Long term lease agreements with carpet and furniture manufacturers are possible. We can demand commitments from business to reduce, reuse, renew, and recycle and change our own behavior accordingly. The fact that we have ignored environmental costs can not continue indefinitely. We must begin to understand our influence in a broader context.