Let’s talk about…the right to repair.
the iFixit repair manifesto, taken from: https://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto
Once upon a time ago, when your electrical items broke, you’d pop down to the local repair shop and get it fixed for a few quid.
Now though, these shops are far and few between and planned obsolescence is actually a thing. Ten years of austerity and a climate crisis though have meant that just disposing of broken items and replacing them is no longer wise for our own pocket or for the future of our planet. For me, living on a reduced income as well as my rising panic about the Earth that I am leaving for future generations, meant that I decided to cease needlessly disposing of and replacing things as they broke.
We have a wealth of information at our fingertips – in our pockets – that can help us find out how to repair common household items. All it takes is a small toolkit and a little self-belief and you can save yourself some money as well as having the satisfaction that you’ve empowered yourself to gain useful skills that you can use again and share.
Some of my favourite resources are youTube, iFixit and restarters.net.
Not everyone is confident enough to repair items themselves though but luckily there’s a worldwide network of volunteer repair people out there to help you. Check on facebook or therestartproject.org and search for your local group, find out when they are next getting together and take your broken items along to a repair party.
The fixers work with you to find out whether your item can be repaired, and work with you to mend your broken items and save them from landfill. Just in Leicestershire alone there are now seven local groups:
Leicester fixers, Loughborough fixers facebook, or restarter, Market Harborough fixers or restarter, Melton space (restarter page). and Rutland fixers.