This article is a summary only of the podcast conversation “8. Repair Cafes Help to Fix, Mend & Connect”. Listen here to the full episode on Spotify podcasts or Apple podcasts, and go here for the relevant links mentioned in the podcast, or read on to enjoy the photos and summary of how the Lake Mac Repair Cafe helps you repair your items to keep them in circulation for longer.

Repair Cafes Help to Fix, Mend & Connect

Rather than stockpiling your growing needs-to-be-repaired collection at the back of the garage, consider taking it to your local repair cafe. Repair cafes are dedicated to helping you extend the life of your belongings. Thanks to local volunteers, Sam Doove and Gabrielle Clappison, places like the Lake Mac Repair Cafe ensure your items get a second chance, lasting for many more days and years to come.

What’s a Repair Cafe?

The Repair Cafe concept began in Amsterdam in 2009, inspiring conversations in Lake Macquarie about starting a local version. Seven years later, the doors opened to the first Repair Cafe in 2018.

Gabrielle and Sam describe the repair cafe as a community-oriented space where skilled volunteers help repair items that need fixing. Operating on a free or donation basis, it’s for people who want to keep their items in circulation for longer and can’t find repair services elsewhere.

People bring their items into the current location at the Landcare & Sustainable Living Centre. Weighing the item first is a key measure of the Cafe’s impact, tracking what has been saved from landfill.

Greeters like Gabrielle create a personable, friendly atmosphere to the visit. Repairs are done collaboratively, as people sit with the repairers. While waiting for a repairer, you can enjoy a cuppa and a chat with others who are also waiting.

Impact of the Repair Cafe

Challenges in establishing the repair cafe as a viable event included helping the community understand what a repair cafe is and how it helps them. After two years of small events, they hosted a large event of 130 people in March 2020 – the day before the COVID lockdowns.

Under the umbrella of the city-wide Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhood Groups, the Lake Mac Repair Cafe bounced back after the unsettling Covid years, relocating to the Landcare & Sustainable Living Centre. Future plans include finding a permanent location to make it more accessible for both the community and volunteers.

Expanding beyond a four-walled space, the Repair Cafe is taking on other initiatives, such as the Newcastle Fabric Destash and also hosting events at the pub. They’ve also tapped into their connections and network to support the Cessnock City Council and City of Newcastle Councils with their Repair Cafes.

Their reach extends further, connecting repairers with other community projects like the Newcastle Toy Library, reinforcing their commitment to fostering sustainability and community across the region.

A Community Effort

Volunteers are essential to the success of the Repair Cafe. The team includes a bunch of passionate tinkerers who find great satisfaction in sharing their skills – skills that are are being lost in the general community. Supporting the team of fixer-uperers are the back-up crew – the kitchen volunteers, greeters and co-ordinators.

Sam, one of the co-ordinators, highlights the whole-of community effort stating there are “lots of different elements… that happen on the backend that you don’t always see. And that’s the case with so many community efforts, isn’t it?”

Positive Impact in the Community

When an item comes in with the expectation that it’s beyond repair – too expensive to fix or is destined to throw away – yet fixed by the Repair Cafe team, it’s a cause for celebration! Co-ordinator Sam rings the invisible “It’s Repaired” bell to share the pride of seeing an item back in use.

Greeter Gabrielle’s small impact is on having conversations about planned obsolescence and the importance of designing products to be repairable. Her goal is “to have those one-on-one conversations with people that just spark something in them to think, there is another way of doing it”.

Learnings from the Repair Cafe

Would it surprise you to know that toasters are the most common item needing to be repaired at the Repair Cafe? Careful not to name names, the team know of one brand of kettle and toaster that cannot be repaired. The manufacturer wipes their hands clean, and there’s nothing the Repair Cafe can do to fix it.

With short manufacturer warranties, many items break soon after the warranty period ends. This is why participation in the National Right to Repair Summit is crucial to help shape the future of product stewardship, pushing brands to design longer-lasting items and avoid planned obsolescence. Read the blogpost The Circular Economy from a Localised Perspective which delves deeper into these issues…

At the Lake Mac Repair Cafe, clothing comes in for simple repairs – like hems and buttons- as well as garden tools and small furniture. Then there’s the sentimental items, such as the 70 year old plush Mickey Mouse.

Not all Items are Fixable

Unfortunately, not all items are fixable due to a lack of parts, the need for special tools, or appliances being glued shut.

In these cases, the Repair Cafe team provides valuable advice on where to purchase parts, how to properly dispose of them, or offer creative ways people could repurpose the item.

Hope for Circularity

The Repair Cafe is an excellent example of a grassroots approach to the circular economy, especially when there are limited repair services available. Sam states that

“it’s a really complex situation, but at the moment we’re down the bottom trying to figure out solutions to complex situations that sometimes we don’t always have control”.

She adds, “it shouldn’t be up to us to go and do the research and be stuck with a product that has a short life span and dies as soon as the short 1 – 2 year warranty has finished”.

The team strongly urges manufacturers to take responsibility, rather than placing the burden on us as end-users. Both co-ordinators recognise that more consumers are becoming aware of the challenges of repairing items. They look forward to a rating system for the repairability of products could become a reality.

Ultimately, the goal is to help the community repair items, extending their lifespan and keeping them in circulation for longer. The joy of fixing a favourite pair of jeans adds a meaningful social aspect to this mission.

The ReNewy Living Podcast was recorded on Awabakal country. I wish to acknowledge the traditional owners of the land and waters in the Newcastle and Lake Macquarie region of New South Wales.

I hope you’re feeling more confident about doing better for our people and planet by taking a start where you live approach to living sustainably. If this episode has spurred you into action, please feel free to share it with your friends. It would mean the world to me!

Listen into the stories and voices of this story here at Spotify podcasts and here at Apple Podcasts… And you can also sign up to my regular emails here… I look forward to sharing more stories with you next time.

Repair Cafes Help to Fix, Mend & Connect

Links from the Podcast episode (S1 Ep8)

Repair It Lake Mac – facebook page detailing events in the area
Landcare & Sustainable Living Centre – located at Teralba, Lake Macquarie, adjacent to the first Lake Mac Tiny Forest
Lake Macquarie Sustainable Neighbourhoods – fostering sustainable neighbourhoods and a healthy environment in Lake Macquarie
Cessnock City Council – events page for what’s on in the area
City of Newcastle – What’s On page
Newcastle Toy Library – a not-for-profit, volunteer-run organisation, providing members with good quality, educational toys at a very low cost each year.
Thanks to Awesome Newcastle for their support to make this podcast happen