by Audrey Anderson
Hometown Weekly Reporter
According to the Christian Science Monitor, “It was 15 years ago when Dutch environmental journalist Martine Postma 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 Westwood Senior Center, a large group a people arrived at the Tri Town Repair Café earlier this month before the opening time of 2:30 pm. The event was organized by the Westwood Environmental Action Committee, The Dover Recycling Committee, Sustainable Medfield, 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.
