Repair Café

By Margaret (“Maggie”) and Peter Sipple

The main goal for offering free repair services at a community “Repair Café” is to extend the life of the goods we own and reduce the number of items that get tossed into the landfill. The idea was inaugurated in the Netherlands and has spread ever since its inception. One can learn more about the original idea at https://www.repaircafe.org/en/. Repairs are made by volunteers with experience and skill who enjoy helping out their neighbors. There is a waiver to sign when folks arrive so that these wonderful volunteers won’t get sued in case something doesn’t stay fixed.

Typically repairs include: electrical, electronic, mechanical, and wooden household items; repairs of clothing, textiles, and jewelry, as well as bicycles and tool sharpening! (Above, we can see Peter as volunteer tool sharpener and Louis Mackall as volunteer woodworker, with the unnamed volunteer “Lamp Lady” in the background.)

In our area, a Branford (CT) Repair Cafe sponsored by Trinity Church takes place at the Branford Community House in the Spring, and a Fall Repair Cafe offered by Sustainable Guilford is held at the Guilford Community Center. It has worked well for us to share our volunteers, and we often have snacks supplied by an organization called Haven Harvest which distributes unused packaged food contributed by restaurants and grocery stores in the area. (Thus reducing more waste!) There is of course “free coffee, tea and water to keep people happy while they wait their turn.”

Our next Repair Café is scheduled for Saturday, April 18, 1:00 – 4:00 pm, at the Branford Community House. Both Louis and Peter have signed on to be there as Repairers.

Comments are welcome below.