REPAIR CAFÉ

Afgelopen juli liep ik nieuwsgierig het Repair Café binnen in wijkcentrum De Meent in Amstelveen. Voor me gingen twee dames naar binnen met een kar waar je U tegen zegt – met daarop een apparaat dat eruitzag alsof het rechtstreeks uit een sciencefictionfilm kwam.
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column >> https://www.morpurgomedia.nl/columns-blogs/2025/2025-08/Repair-Cafe
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#repaircafe #reparatie #vrijwilligers #amstelveen #demeent #martinepostma #wijkcentrum #MorpurgoMedia @mijnAmstelveennieuws #blog #column

#Massachusetts: A successful tri-town #RepairCafé

by Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter

"According to the Christian Science Monitor, 'It was 15 years ago when Dutch #environmental journalist #MartinePostma was finally moved to action over all the appliances she saw being thrown away in her Amsterdam neighborhood . . .on Oct. 18, 2009, she arranged a local event where volunteers skilled in repairs would try to fix broken devices that community members brought in, free of cost.'

"Holding a local repair café can help reduce waste in a community and enable people to save money by continuing to use their household items and forgoing the purchase of new ones. A repair café is also an opportunity for people to get to know their neighbors, share a snack, and admire the #fixperts as they work. Repair cafés are now a trend being held throughout the world.

"At the #WestwoodMA Senior Center, a large group a people arrived at the #TriTownRepairCafé earlier this month before the opening time of 2:30 pm. The event was organized by the Westwood #EnvironmentalAction Committee, The Dover Recycling Committee, #SustainableMedfield, and the Medfield Transfer Station and Recycling Committee. The items people brought with them to be fixed included a blender, lamps, a coat, an air conditioner, sewing machines, a folding table, a chair, and a clock, among many others.

"After entering the Senior Center, attendees briefly waited in line and chatted until it was their turn to register for the event. After that, they were called by name to enter the repair rooms where approximately 12 volunteer repair people or 'fixperts' worked intently on the broken items at their workstations while the owners watched. There was no charge for the repair service, and the repairs were not guaranteed. Item owners were responsible for purchasing any parts needed.

"Fixpert Bob was presented with a sewing machine that needed the bobbin assembly to be put back into place after falling out. Bob was delighted at the word play of 'Bob working on a bobbin!' The owner of the 1987 Brother sewing machine wanted to avoid purchasing a new one, but she couldn’t figure out how to put the bobbin assembly pieces back together. Bob got right to work, studying a few pages from the original manual that the owner brought. One could see him thinking as he looked back and forth at the pieces of the bobbin assembly he held in his hands. Though Bob had no prior experience with sewing machines, he soon had the three pieces of the bobbin assembly put together and seated back in the machine.

"The other fixperts chatted with 'customers' while fixing their items, consulted each other on repairs, and used a variety of tools. A fun atmosphere prevailed in the room, with people showing each other what they brought to be fixes and happily announcing, 'He fixed it!' and showing their restored items to others.

"The next time you see a Repair Café being organized locally, you might want to give it a try."

Source:
https://hometownweekly.net/westwood/a-successful-tri-town-repair-cafe/
#RepairCafeMA #RepairCafes #RightToRepair #SolarPunkSunday #SolarPunk

The ‘#RepairCafé’ movement has become a powerful force for a #FixIt culture

By Anne Pinto-Rodrigues, Jan. 07, 2025

"It was 15 years ago when Dutch #environmental journalist #MartinePostma was finally moved to action over all the appliances she saw being thrown away in her Amsterdam neighborhood.

"Despite being reparable, malfunctioning coffee machines, electric kettles, irons, and the like were ending up in landfills. And all the while, manufacturers made more and sold cheap, contributing to carbon dioxide emissions and exacerbating climate change, to Ms. Postma’s frustration. 'At that time, repair was not seen as something normal,' Ms. Postma says. 'You couldn’t do it anywhere.'

"So on Oct. 18, 2009, she arranged a local event where volunteers skilled in repairs would try to fix broken devices that community members brought in, free of cost. She had no idea if anyone would show up.

"Today’s throwaway culture is being challenged by a growing movement to try to fix rather than replace household appliances. The effort has even led to repair-friendly laws in many countries.

"But as soon as the doors of the venue opened, people began streaming in with their defective items. In addition to all the repairs, the event created an opportunity for people of different social and economic backgrounds to come together and bond. 'The huge interest really surprised me,' Ms. Postma says. 'It showed that people want to do the right thing but have to be enabled to do so.'

"Her first “Repair Café” turned out to be a resounding success.

"Today, the Repair Café movement has spread to more than 40 countries across six continents, with nearly 3,200 Repair Cafés in operation, including 200-plus community repair programs in the United States. Moreover, the Repair Café Foundation, which Ms. Postma set up in 2010, has helped foster legislative changes to make repairing more accessible in Europe.

"'The Repair Café Foundation has not only stuck around, but coalesced into a political force in the Western world that has driven the adoption of repair-friendly consumer laws,' says Adam Minter, a columnist for Bloomberg Opinion and the author of two books on waste, recycling, and reuse.'"

Read more:
https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Making-a-difference/2025/0107/repair-cafe-broken-appliances
#SolarPunkSunday #RepairCafes #RepairCafeFoundation #RightToRepair #DIY #PlannedObsolescence

What Are #RepairCafes & How They Can Protect The Planet

January 26, 2022

"We live in a throwaway society, one which creates vast amounts of waste while using up valuable resources for mass manufacturing. This can lead many to start reducing their waste on an individual level, in particular moving away from #plastic, but did you know there are also vital community-run initiatives that can make a huge difference to our global waste problem?

"Alongside #LibrariesOfThings, which reduce consumption, there are also repair cafes, which help items last longer. Here’s why they’re vital to a sustainable future.

"What is a Repair Cafe?

"Repair cafes are free meeting places where people come together to fix things. Unofficial community repair groups have likely been around for a long time, but the model as we now know it was created by #MartinePostma. Postma organised the very first repair cafe in Amsterdam in October 2009, which was a resounding success. She then founded the Repair Cafe Foundation in 2011, a non-profit providing professional support to local groups wanting to start repair cafes. There are now over 2000 repair cafes in over 35 countries around the world.

"In a repair cafe you can usually find tools and materials needed to fix items such as electrics, clothes, bikes, furniture, and more. You can also find expert volunteers, with repair skills in different areas, to help you. Most repair cafes also teach essential mending skills such as sewing buttons, fixing zips, and wiring plugs, helping people learn something by watching and working with volunteers.

"Repair cafes focus on making things last, saving people money and helping the environment by reducing consumption, manufacture, and use of raw materials."

Original link is 404...

Archived version:
https://web.archive.org/web/20231209215004/https://ethicalunicorn.com/2022/01/26/what-are-repair-cafes-how-they-can-protect-the-planet/

#SolarPunkSunday #RightToRepairMovement
#HackerSpace #Repair #CircularEconomy #RightToRepair #ReduceReuseRepair