A small army of volunteers will spend three hours in Fairfield on Saturday, repairing broken appliances and other items to keep them from ending up in landfills.
The Fairfield Gonzales Community Place will be the scene of some triumphant resurrections and the occasional tearful farewell on Saturday when Repair Café Fairfield returns, whose goal is to breathe new life into outdated and dying appliances and gadgets.
A small army of volunteers will spend three hours on Saturday demonstrating their repair skills and offering advice on how to extend the life of beloved appliances and other items by a few years while doing something for the environment.
“Basically, it’s about keeping things that still have a useful life out of the landfill,” said Brad Woodruff, one of the event’s organizers. “It’s also about stopping the tendency of manufacturers to build in obsolescence.”
The hobbyists, who on Saturday squatted over mixers, toasters and panini presses armed only with screwdrivers and soldering irons, are part of a global movement aimed at reducing the amount of waste in landfills.
The Repair Café Fairfield has been around for years and is one of several in the region. Similar Repair Cafés have also been established over the years in North Saanich, Metchosin and at the University of Victoria.
The movement, which began in the Netherlands in 2009, has grown into a network of thousands of events around the world, with more than 48,000 volunteer repairers ensuring that almost 58,000 items do not end up in landfill every month.
Woodruff, who has been volunteering as a repairman since 2017, said events like this are crucial in a world where people have become accustomed to throwing things away.
Jeffrey Brooks, another repairman and the man who helps coordinate the volunteers, estimates they will be able to repair about two-thirds of the items they see on Saturday.
Brooks, who has also been volunteering since about 2017, said that in many cases, people simply cannot bring themselves to part with “things that have been in the family for a long time. They just don’t want to say goodbye to them.”
For both men, the event is a sign against the flooding of landfills and a message to manufacturers that people no longer want things that cannot be easily repaired.
Brooks said the toaster is the perfect example of a mechanical device that was once easy to repair but now contains relays, computer chips, thin wires and an electromagnet that needs to be powered.
He said if people could just replace them for a few dollars, they wouldn’t even bother to repair them. “This is just awful,” he said.
And with Hartland Landfill, the region’s only landfill, still generating 180,000 tons of municipal solids each year, the need for diversion is becoming increasingly important.
Woodruff said organisations such as the international Repair Café group and its local branches would not be able to persuade multinational manufacturers to change their practices, but governments that recognised the value of the circular economy and waste reduction could.
Woodruff said the European Union has passed a “right to repair” law and other countries are following suit. “There is actually progress – it’s a good start,” he said.
The Right to Repair Act means that when components are defective, people should have the option to repair things more easily rather than being forced to buy a new product.
According to the Canadian government, which is currently reviewing the relevant legislation, financial responsibility for manufacturers should provide an incentive for them to develop reusable and recyclable products.
In 2021, the British Columbia Association of Municipalities passed a resolution calling on the province to draft a right to repair bill.
In Fairfield, there will be at least 10 volunteer repair workers on site on Saturday, with expertise in everything from textile repair to computers.
Brooks said they will probably have someone there to take care of almost everything.
All volunteer repairers bring their own tools, but the group has a collection of additional parts and components to draw on.
The repair is free of charge, but donations are accepted to cover the costs of certain consumables and special tools.
“Most of our repairmen are generalists,” says Woodruff, pointing out that about half of them are retired, but all enjoy fixing things in their free time.
Brooks said they’re seeing a lot of small appliances, lights, clothing, bikes, wheelchairs and some furniture repairs. But they’re also seeing large items like lawn mowers and snow blowers.
“And sharpening seems to be a big deal,” Brooks said. “Everyone seems to have knives that just can’t cut wet pasta.”
The Repair Café Fairfield takes place Saturdays from 2 to 5 p.m. at the Fairfield Gonzales Community Place, 1330 Fairfield Rd.
The Canadian federal government is currently gathering feedback on the Right to Repair legislation. Submissions can be made at: https://ised-isde.survey-sondage.ca/f/s/RTR
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