Save the Date for the Next Repair Cafe! ... Please hold on to your broken items and bring a couple to the Greenport Library on May 4. Click here to see flyer We have volunteers to help with Simple Bike repairs, Textiles/clothing and jewelry repairs.... Volunteers still needed for other categories, general help, Spanish translation and coffee break snacks.
Update on the Repair Movement.
On January 2, 2024, the Repair Cafe International Foundation and the Center for Sustainable Design in Amsterdam held an International Repair Cafe Symposium which I, Margaret attended on Zoom. It was fun and informative and here are a few things I found interesting.
First of all, there is a growing interest in Repairing and the Right to Repair; in fact it is a Worldwide Movement, helping us mindshift from a resource wasting linear economy to a more sustainable circular economy.
Also, the RC Int'l Foundation is collecting data from all the Repair Cafes through a Repair Monitor Dashboard. This data is being used by communities and countries as evidence to their legislators to institute "Right to Repair" policies. Here is some of the data: From 2016 to the end of 2023, there have been 2983 RCs formed worldwide, with 44,745 volunteers and estimated 81,000 items repaired. The RC Monitor Dashboard is keeping track of the types of items repaired and the various things that make repair difficult or impossible. For example, design improvements suggested from data collected by a RC in Surrey, are to stop soldering things that don't need it, and to stop using so many different sized screw heads.
Another impact of the growing movement is that Repair Skills are being brought into school curriculums, some using the RC Model and Volunteer coaches. Also RC Monitor Dashboard data is showing the need for Reparable Product Design. As an example, in the Netherlands there is a school where students are given an object, with the task to redesign it to make it repairable.
Other discussion topics centered on the Right to Repair efforts going on in Europe and the USA, and how to attract and encourage younger folks to be involved.
The webinar can be viewed on YouTube. Find it on WWW. REPAIRCAFE.ORG, IT is dIvided into parts, so it is easy to view...
And Please Save the Date and consider volunteering for our 5th North Fork Repair Cafe, being held on May 4, 1-4 PM in collaborations with the FLOYD MEMORIAL LIBRARY IN GREENPORT.
To volunteer or for more information, please email Margaret at Margaret@nfec1.org