What do you do with a broken toaster? Or with a bike when the wheel runs out of true? Or with a sweater full of moth holes? Toss it? No way! Green Summit is organizing the first Repair Café at Saint John’s Lutheran Church on Saturday, September 22, 2018.
At Saint John’s Lutheran Church, on 587 Springfield Avenue, Summit, on September 22, 2018 everything centers on making repairs. Starting from 1 p.m. and ending at 4 p.m., various volunteer repair volunteers will be available to help make all possible repairs free of charge. Tools and materials will also be on hand.
People visiting the Repair Café should carry in their beloved but broken items including toasters, lamps, hair dryers, clothes, bikes, toys, crockery… anything that is broken is welcome, and can more than likely be repaired. The Repair Café specialists almost always have the know-how.
By promoting repairs, Green Summit wants to help reduce mountains of waste. This is absolutely necessary, according to Courtney Cordaro.
“We throw away piles of stuff in the United States,” explained Cordaro. “Even things which practically have nothing wrong with them get thrown away, and could easily be used again after a simple repair. Unfortunately, many people have forgotten that they can have things repaired. Repair Café can change all that.”
Repair Café is also meant to put neighbors in touch with each other in a new way, and to discover that a lot of know-how and practical skills can be found close to home.
“If you repair a bike, a CD player or a pair of pants together with a previously unfamiliar neighbor, you look at that person in a different light the next time you run into them on the street,” said Cordaro. “Jointly making repairs can lead to pleasant contacts in the neighborhood.”
Courtney points out that repairs can save money and resources, and can help minimize CO emissions. “But above all, Repair Café just wants to show how much fun and often easy repairing things can be!”
Repair volunteers are needed for any skill type; reach out to GreenSummitNJ@gmail.com!
About the Repair Café Foundation
The Repair Café concept arose in the Netherlands in 2009, created by Martine Postma, an Amsterdam-bases journalist/publicist. In 2010, she started the Repair Café Foundation (see RepairCafe.org). This foundation provides support to local groups around the world wishing to start their own Repair Café. The foundation supports the Repair Café in Summit.
