Throw it Away -
No Way!

Throw it Away - No Way!

Sustainable September | Theo Mackaay | Anglican Eco Care

Do you find that you have items of clothing needing repair, or a chair with a wobbly leg, or a toaster which is not working? Many of us, faced with such items which are not expensive to replace, tend to throw them out and simply replace them.

Well, what if they could be repaired? Better – what if you could be helped by experienced hands to repair them?

There are two networks which do exactly that!

Repair Café is an international network of like-minded people who gather skilled repairers (and licensed ones for things like electrics) so that others can benefit from their expertise and reduce the flow of repairable items consigned to landfill. It started in the Netherlands and has spread throughout the world ().

You can find locations of Repair Cafe's in Perth and some rural locations.

Is this something your parish could take up – create your own Repair Café and become part of an international movement to reduce waste, enhance skills and build community?

Repair Cafe's typically operate once a month. The Repair Café website has details on how to get started. There is a joining fee (€55 – about $90), for which you will receive a start-up kit, advice, the Repair Café logo and printable material.

Repair Lab shares Repair Café’s goals. It operates a bit differently to Repair Café, Repair Lab has a team of repairers who visit a limited number of venues across Perth, usually Victoria Park, Wembley and Mosman Park. However, the co-ordinator tells me that it would not be difficult for a parish to recruit a group of repairers and form a standalone lab in your location. Repairers are typically retired or semi- retired people with backgrounds in sewing, mechanics, electrics, etc.

While there is no joining fee, a donation would be welcomed as the repairers’ consumables are provided (sewing materials, etc).

Repair Lab welcomes other community groups to their sessions. At Mosman Park recently the local Buy Nothing group had a stall at which people were welcome to bring items to add to the stall and/or take items away with them.