Repair Café Recap: What You Missed and What You Should Know

By Cara Stapleford
 Our first Repair Café came off as a success, so much so that we’ve got another one already in the works!

In case you missed the January 20th café, here’s how it went down: The Central Vermont Solid Waste Management District (CVSWMD) in partnership with Onion River Exchange (ORE) hosted its first Repair Café at the Universalist Church in Barre.

Many participants left the Café with a repaired item and a little bit of fix-it knowledge. Throughout the four-hour event, almost 100 visitors stopped by and brought with them 68 broken items. We had 14 volunteer “fixperts” providing an array of repair skills. A wide variety of broken items were brought in including; clothing, knives, electronics, lamps, blenders, mixers, clocks, cameras, fans, sewing machines, vacuums, small furniture, and the list goes on!

As visitors arrived they checked in with their item, and then were sent to the routing table to get matched with the appropriate fixer. Visitors were encouraged to participate in the repairs and some left saying that they wanted to start fixing things on their own. True to its name, there was a small “café” area where participants were able to sit and relax while waiting for their item to be fixed.

Of the 68 items that were brought in…

• 29 items were successfully repaired during the Repair Café, 27 items were not repaired, and 12 items were somewhat repaired
• Out of the 27 items that were not repaired during the event, 16 of these items were repairable and simply needed a tool or part that was not on hand
• Visitors were provided with instructions to complete the repairs at home
• 294.7 lbs of items (the 29 that were fixed and 16 that were fixable) were diverted from the landfill out of the 456.1 pounds (68 items) that were brought

In the grand scheme of things, this may not seem like a lot, but what if more Repair Cafés took place? How much could we divert from the landfill then?
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CVSWMD and ORE want to keep the Repair Café momentum going and are in the works of planning another. We’ll be partnering with the Center for Agricultural Economy (CAE) to bring this event to Hardwick. We’re securing a date and location for this spring: stay tuned for the details! We’re currently seeking fixers and volunteers for this event so if you’re interested, let us know by filling out this registration form http://www.cvswmd.org/volunteer-sign-up.html.  
Not a fixer, but know someone who is? Let them know we’re seeking people with specific repair skills for a Hardwick and Bradford event.   See you at the next Repair Café! 
 
Cara is a member of ECO AmeriCorps currently serving at the CVSWMD as the Community Zero Waste Assistant. She graduated from the University of Vermont in May of 2017 with a B.A. in Environmental Studies. In her free time, she likes to bake, snowboard, and spend time with family.