Throw it away? No way! If you have items that need fixing, but you don’t know how, check out your local Repair Café. Established in Amsterdam in 2009, the International movement is aimed at keeping items out of landfill by teaching how to repair your stuff. Volunteers can help you to learn new repair skills and will help you to complete the repair. What gets repaired at one of these events? Depending on the volunteers available, you may be able to have small appliances, clothing, bicycles, toys, and other items fixed.
Our First Local Repair Cafe
Dundas launched its first Repair Café this month and it was a huge success. The Repair Café is a project of Action 13, a group of concerned citizens about the climate crisis based in Ward 13. We had a skilled team of menders and general fixers that diverted over 40 items from landfill. The sweater de-pilling station was a huge hit for people’s beloved, but “pilly” woolen wear. Mending of knit items was also very popular, including learning darning and visible mending. Numerous patches were applied, and many people left the café having learned a new skill that they felt confident to complete at home. Small appliances were assessed for possibility of repair, and several of these were fixed.
Community Vibes
One of the benefits of hosting a Repair Café is the sense of community that is experienced. Visitors can enjoy a cup of coffee or tea while waiting for their item to be fixed. There was a band providing musical entertainment, and kids were able to decorate fabric gift bags made from pre-loved fabric. This was a big hit.
At some Repair Cafes, when an item is fixed a bell is rung, and people cheer. The fixer and the visitor can have their picture taken, and we track items repaired. It’s a special experience to watch someone learn how to make a repair, and to see the gratitude for the fixer to help make this happen. If you want to see a documentary about a Repair Café, watch Fixed! to see what I mean.
Valuing Repair
We live in a society that has lost the skill of fixing. It’s so easy to throw a broken item away and buy a new, inexpensive replacement. But at what cost? Our landfill is flooded with our stuff, including shocking volumes of “disposable clothing” that no country wants to take. How do we teach our people how to fix things? At a Repair Café! Young people can learn how to darn and mend clothes. Making clothes a personal statement and extending their life span can make things stand out. Learning about the poor quality of zippers that go into disposable clothes, we may be inspired to buy less and repair more. You might be inspired to learn about Dress Retro, from Take the Jump, which suggests that we acquire only 3 new items a year. Learn about how to make your wardrobe more sustainable here. We hope that this article gets you curious about whether there is a Repair Café in your area.