You can get the right fix

What happens in your household when your favourite lamp goes on the fritz?

Or when your toaster quits toasting, or coffee maker, cassette player, gizmo of any kind just stops working?

You may be willing to change out a bulb, wiggle a cord or check that the electrical outlet is working. But if you’re like many, that’s as far you go.

And then that perfectly good thing that perhaps just needs a new plug, or switch or sometimes just a good dose of WD40, perfectly good stuff, hits the trash because it has a new name. "Broken.”

This may not be so common in our parents, or grandparents era; they were typically very good fixers. And they were also not as privy to the more recent notion of planned obsolescence, where many products today are designed to fail.

That said, many of us  today are just not that terribly comfortable opening up the innards of electrical devices to see what makes them tick, to see if we can figure out what’s gone wrong.

Chalk this up to:

• lack of technical savvy
• lack of confidence
• concern for personal safety (read here fear of electrical shock!)
• lack of patience
• all or any of the above.

The thing to keep in mind though — all our belongings, at one stage or another, were made by people, and can also be fixed, by people. At least by people who know a little about what they’re doing, and are at least well equipped to try.

That in a nutshell is the whole idea behind the Repair Café.

It’s a whole bunch of awesome volunteers who all know how to fix different types of things — coming together in one location on one day — who bring tools, and let another bunch of people with some basic household stuff that needs fixing show up, looking for help. It’s just that simple.

So what do they fix?

The list is long, and depends on not only on the skill set of the volunteers who show up on the particular day to be fixers, but also what walks in the door tucked under someone’s arm to be fixed.

No job is too big or too small; the volunteer fixers typically take a look at just about anything and give it their best shot.

We’re talking about everything from small electronics, audio equipment, clocks, figurines and fine china, furniture, collectibles, clothing items, and beyond. If it’s broken, it’s fair game.

The Central Okanagan Regional District Waste Reduction Office has hosted a spring and fall Repair Cafe for the past number of years at Okanagan College.

All repairs are done free of charge.

Fixers encourage the owner of the item to get involved in the fixing process, help troubleshoot, dismantle, whatever it takes.

Sometimes they also offer up advice on where to get missing parts, or where to go for additional advice. If you bring in a broken item in need of repair, you will be encouraged to engage in the whole fixing process — no drop and return later for pick up.

Volunteer fixers are grouped together with similar skill sets and basic tools and supplies. People who attend line up to get their broken things repaired.

Waste Reduction Office staff match up visitors with the right fixer, or next available fixer. While people wait, they are treated to coffee, tea, donuts and other fun activities to keep them occupied.

Over the last few years, the Okanagan Regional Library has also been on hand to help do research, and provide manuals and books on loan to help with fix ups.

The Repair Café model is not new to the Okanagan. It started in the Netherlands almost a decade ago, and has since been spreading to the North American continent as consciousness builds over the incredible volume of stuff North Americans toss away, often needlessly, daily.

The Repair Cafe is not only about fixing things, but also about building community. Fixers tend to chat with one another, and the people they are helping- while they work.

Not only do Repair Cafes keep stuff out of landfills and save us money, they help the fixers and those having items fixed feel good. It’s a wonderful feeling of accomplishment — taking something from broken to fixed.

And what a feeling of empowerment too, teaching people to troubleshoot, learn a new skill set, walk away with more knowledge about how to fix something for themselves, or know how to troubleshoot for themselves in the future.

If you want more info on the upcoming Repair Café at the Okanagan College Trades Building on Saturday, March 30, visit regionaldistrict.com/repaircafe.

Even better, if you would like to lend your particular skill set to a future Repair Café, we would love to hear from you.

Just email [email protected] or call 250-469-6250.

This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.