A cool quick fix

The possibility to tend to other kitchen tasks while my bread toasted itself was a cherished memory.

Luckily, my friend, Noortje Schrauwen (MSc Industrial Ecology), decided it was time to bring a Repair Cafe to Leiden, where we both live. Repair Cafes – community events where volunteers repair household items, like electronics, clothes and bicycles – have been sweeping across the Netherlands. The trend has also attracted international interest, being profiled by the BBC and New York Times, the latter reporting that the Repair Cafe Foundation helps 30 communities across the Netherlands organize events where locals meet up, repair each other’s things, and of course enjoy some coffee and desserts. Moreover, the Foundation recently attracted hundreds of thousands of euros in grants from the Dutch Government and Doen Foundation to support its work.



On a blustery Saturday I headed over to Leiden’s first Repair Cafe, just a few minutes walk from my apartment. The event’s proximity wasn’t just a draw for me. “I’ve been waiting for Repair Cafe to come to Leiden,” said one volunteer repairmen, “as I don’t like to travel.”



Arriving with my toaster, I was given a ticket with number 19 written on it. Since the volunteers were currently helping number 16 (another malfunctioning toaster), I had time to wander around the event. About 30 people were in attendance, repairing things or else having things repaired by volunteers.



“The event is going really well,” said Noortje, “lots of people have shown up and gotten things fixed.”

“Negentien!”



My turn. Reinout, who has been volunteering for Repair Cafes since they first began some two years ago, was ready to help with my toaster. Cleared some space next to someone repairing a printer, he started removing screws from my toaster’s plastic casing. “There’s usually an electro-magnet in these things that keeps the toast down until it’s toasted,” Reinout explained. Once the casing was removed it was clear that the magnet’s positive and negative sides weren’t aligned. By forcing some pieces back into place and tightening some screws, the problem was easily solved. To make sure, we plugged the toaster back in and pressed down the handle. To my delight, it stayed down. No more hand-toasting for me and my kitchen-productivity was poised to skyrocket!



I asked Reinout how Repair Cafes had started: “You know, this whole thing started with someone having the idea and putting it on the internet. It worked because it’s such a good idea, and many people have recognized this.”



Walking back home with my fixed toaster, I thought about how Repair Cafes could have big environmental benefits if implemented on a large scale. If every town had a successful repair cafe, lots of perfectly good products could be diverted from the landfill, and the unnecessary production of products whose roles could be filled by easily fixed existing products would be reduced. Assuming that new toasters aren’t dramatically more energy-efficient, prolonging a toaster’s useful life saves considerable amounts of energy and materials. And of course, repairing bikes and clothes is far better for the environment than purchasing new ones.



Repair Cafes are also about saving money: getting things repaired for free is a great deal, especially compared with purchasing replacements. Moreover, repair cafes are also clearly social events.



“I’m so happy about all the new social connections being made today,” said another volunteer. Many believe that like-minded people connecting is good for strengthening communities, and that such gatherings could also lead to local solutions to larger problems than broken household goods.



“So, do you think next time you could repair the toaster yourself?” asked Noortje.

“Maybe, but I’ll probably just come back to a cool Repair Cafe.” 



repaircafe.nl

repaircafe.nl/netwerk