If it’s broke ... fix it

Reversing the throwaway culture one sewing machine at a time

by Jonathan Romeo

America is known for a lot of things – hot dogs, democracy, technological innovation, reality TV, hot dogs. But right atop the list is our reputation as a throwaway culture.

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, the average American throws away nearly 5 pounds of trash every single day. That can include food, plastics, material goods, sets of Monopoly with the missing shoe piece – pretty much everything.

In our defense, however, it’s a system that’s set up to function this way. Around the 1920s, manufacturers started practicing “planned obsolescence,” in which, basically, industries intentionally produce crappier, lowcost items, so you’d have to buy a new one in a few years and replace it.

And, as Americans became accustomed to this totally manipulative and terrible way of purchasing goods, we

JusttheFacts

What: Repair Café, bring your broken appliances, torn clothing and flat tires to be repaired by volunteers. Or better yet, learn how to fix it yourself.

Who: Presented by the Ignacio Community Library

When: Thurs., July 6, 6-8 p.m.

Where: Ignacio Community Library, 470 Goddard For info.: www.repaircafe.org also increasingly lost the tried-and-true art of repair. Which is why, when Ron Schermacher, IdeaLab educator at the Ignacio Community Library, discovered the concept of the Repair Café, he knew it would be a great service to his community.

“So many companies aren’t even interested in developing products that can be repaired or are sustainable, so a lot of people get in a mode that if something breaks, they throw it away and buy a new one,” he said. “We’re trying to give people more ownership and information about the things they own.”

The Repair Café model started in 2008 in Amsterdam and now has more than 2,500 locations worldwide. Representatives with Repair Café did not return requests for an interview for this story.

Regardless, the concept is fairly simple (though every location is a bit different): free meeting places where volunteers help you repair your items, or offer tools, materials and the instruction on how to repair it yourself.

Schermacher said the Ignacio Community Library will host the first Repair Café meeting Thurs., July 6, from 6-8 p.m. From there, the event will be held the first Thursday of the month. It will also mark the first Repair Café on Colorado’s Western Slope (attempts to interview other Repair Cafés in the state – Boulder, Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs – were not successful).

Schermacher said hosting a Repair Café at the Ignacio Community Library is a perfect fit. Already, the library has a MakerLab, and people were dropping off items to be fixed. That’s not, however, part of the library’s service of offerings.

“That’s not part of our mission here at the library, to be a repair service,” he said. “But I felt like there must be a need out there.”

So what can you bring? Well, if it appears it can be fixed, Schermacher said, it’s fair game – clothing, appliances (vacuums, toasters, lamps, etc.) and even electronics such as computers and cell phones. Oh, and bikes!

The entire event is spearheaded by volunteers. Schermacher said he already has a team that specializes in electronics, furniture, bike repairs and sewing, as well as himself, a jack of all trades. But the more the merrier when it comes to volunteers at Repair Café, he said, even for people who want to help with registration.

Repairs are free, though donations are welcome to help buy tools and materials. Schermacher said organizers will try to recycle valuable materials, such as aluminum, copper and brass, to also help fund the effort.

“I’m just shocked how much electronic equipment gets tossed out,” he said. “It’s just really sad; we’re putting valuable metals and minerals into landfills, and at the same time, we’re extracting the last of our resources from the Earth and having to go to harder lengths to do that.”

Eventually, the Repair Café will also be hosted at the Pine River Library in Bayfield.

“I think a lot of people in our community are self-reliant, and they like getting things to work again without just replacing them,” Brenda Marshall, director of the Pine River Library, said. “People take great pride in the fact they can maintain and keep something going, rather than just getting a new one.”

Marshall added that with the increasing cost of, well, everything these days, being able to fix your broken-down items is another relatively easy cost-savings method.

“One issue in our community is affordability and how hard it is to live here,” she said. “So anything that will help people find a way to save money is something we’re going to focus on.”

Repairing your own stuff seems to be a movement gaining momentum, with repair legislation gaining some traction across the country. In April, Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill that made Colorado the first state to ensure farmers can fix their own tractors with a “right to repair” law, forcing manufacturers to provide the necessary manuals and tools for their pricey equipment.

It’s part of a broader right-to-repair movement that could eventually include other products, such as iPhones and the like. The idea is, if we have information on how these products are made, we can repair them. Opponents of such efforts, however, say that it borders on releasing trade secrets.

Regardless, Schermacher hopes the new Repair Café will make an impact on the local level. Across all Repair Cafés, the success rate on repairs is about 70% of all items brought in.

“That’s highly ambitious, and I hope we can come up with that,” he said. “As long as people aren’t bringing too difficult items; be reasonable about what you think can be repaired.”

(Schermacher said that one recent item his team was unable to fix was an old VCR, which, for all you kids out there, stands for videocassette recorder. So it’s best to trade in that “Titanic” VHS box set for something newer.) There will also be some activities for kids to help them learn how certain items are made, he said. And, anyone interested in learning how to repair their own items are more than welcome (Schermacher asks people to stick around regardless).

“We’re really hoping this catches on,” he said. For more info., contact Schermacher at 970-563-9287. ■