Fixing things in a throw-away society

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I was raised without many "things", instead my parents focused on experiences and relationship (with each other, with the rest of the natural world). What we did have, we fixed if it broke. 

In a society comprised largely of cheap consumables with short usable lives where the intent is to dispose of it rather than fix it (planned obsolescence), and where some of our most pressing planetary problems are linked with refuse/garbage/waste, I have worked hard to instill a fix-it sensibility in my kiddos. And it seems to be working as they seem convinced I can fix anything. I can't...but I attempt to. 

This morning my daughter brought me one of her cherished, handmade Kenyan beaded bracelets where one snap had broken. We replaced the broken snap together. I never once saw any doubt in her eyes that we could fix it. Or any worry that the bracelet would have to be chucked since it had a broken snap. This morning, I am feeling good about teaching this to them.

It also has me wondering about things or scenarios in which "fixing" it would NOT be a recommended course of action? In what scenarios in nature is "waste" not repurposed somehow?

Now to get to other broken things as they pile up at my place at the table...