Repair Cafe´ back open next week
The Levin Repair Cafe´ will reopen next week. There has been a few changes to the times the Repair Cafe opens. It would now open the second Saturday of the month, from 10am to 1pm, under red traffic light directions, and vaccine passports will need to be shown.
We are now offering new bimonthly workshops, alongside our usual repairing of household items. Each workshop will have a different theme, focusing on fixing and maintenance.
The first workshop will be on Maintaining and Repairing Bicycles. Children, youth, and adults are welcomed to bring along their bikes and, if they have them, tools, inner tubes, etc.
Other workshop topics will include darning, gluing broken ornaments, patching, repairing small wooden items, etc. Any ideas for future workshops are welcomed.
We are also starting to advocate for the Right to Repair, by recording household items that can’t be repaired and informing the Ministry of Primary Industries. https://www. rnz.co.nz/programmes/thedetail/story/2018816039/ourthrowaway-society-can-t-lastforever.
Despite utilising a wide
range of repair skills and knowledge, including registered electricians, the Repair Cafe´ has been coming across items that are unable to be repaired. Unfortunately, an ever-growing proportion of items are designed this way, leading to an increase of household items being disposed of in landfills. In NZ the Consumer Guarantees Act does provide some protection by ensuring repairs, replacements, or refunds when goods are faulty, as well as setting minimum guarantees for all products and services. However, producers simply exploit a loophole
in this act to skirt these obligations.
Consumers can send a message that they want to be able to repair items they’ve purchased by letting both producers and our government know that we want the Right to Repair.
The Repair Cafe´ is supported by Horowhenua District Council’s Community Development Waste Minimisation teams. This has created a unique partnership that successfully reduces waste going to landfill, while also providing a vibrant community setting for our residents to share ideas and skills.