Sidmouth Repair Café is supporting a national campaign aimed at reducing waste by making items easier and cheaper to mend.
It has signed up to the UK Repair and Reuse Declaration – announced today (Friday, October 20) - which calls for legislation requiring product designers and manufacturers to factor in repairability and provide the necessary spare parts on request. It also calls for better access to tools and training for repair work.
The announcement of the declaration comes in advance of International Repair Day on Saturday, October 21, which will see events all over the world around the theme of ‘Repair for Everyone’.
Sidmouth Repair Café’s ‘fixers’ are familiar with the issues covered by the Declaration. Every month they mend electrical and electronic items that would otherwise have been thrown away – these things are repairable, but only with the right tools, parts and expertise. They also see items that can’t be mended because they’re not safe to tinker with.
Repair café volunteer Jenny Ashmore said at the café’s last session, on September 30, its ‘sparkies' fixed items ‘from lawn mowers, vacuum cleaners, radio, DVD and other music makers to a window cleaner, lamps, a hedge trimmer, hair straightener and food mixers.
She added: “There were items like electric blankets and microwaves that, as standard, were too dangerous to repair – and a potentially explosive electric toothbrush was a new one.”
The UK Repair and Reuse Declaration is being championed by the Restart Project, which is working to reverse the ‘throwaway culture’. Restart is 100 per cent behind the work of Repair Cafes, but says more facilities are needed for getting electric and electronic products mended. It wants to see a ‘fixing factory’ on every high street which would repair these items on a ‘pay what you like’ basis, and also offer workshops and training.
In a statement on its website supporting International Repair Day, the Restart Project says: “With manufacturers preventing repair of their products for profit, and a lack of incentive by the government to support repair, fixing is often either too difficult, costly or time-consuming for people. By repairing and reusing your things, you can save money and the environment. We’re calling for a real Right to Repair, so that repairing your stuff can be an option for everyone.”
The next Sidmouth Repair Cafe session is at the usual venue, the Youth Centre in Manstone Lane, on Saturday, October 28, from 10am until 1pm.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here