Stephanie Blackton has been concerned about the environment since the 70’s, and she’s passionate about reducing, reusing and recycling.
“I have been known to bring recycling home from a party," she says.
So when she learned about repair cafes, she was delighted.
“The concept is to keep things in use – keep them out of the landfill. Sometimes it’s a favorite pair of jeans that is patched enough and you can wear them, or you’ve got a lamp that you love, a piece of jewelry that can now be worn.”
These events are staffed by volunteers who take pride in being able to fix almost anything, and they’re happy to teach others what they know. Charlottesville has been hosting cafes since 2015 – fixing as many as 100 items in the course of an afternoon, and Blackton says interest is growing.
“There seems to be a groundswell of support right now. I think younger people especially want this.”
She’ll oversee Saturday’s repair café from noon to four at Unity Charlottesville and says other communities can learn how to host their own by reaching out to a non-profit called ifixit.com.
This movement has also led to so-called Right to Repair laws and bills sponsored by Delegates Lily Franklin and Jackie Glass here in Virginia. At the Public Interest Research Group or PIRG, Nathan Proctor is leading the fight.
“If you’ve ever thought to yourself, ‘Oh they don’t make it like they used to,’ that is objectively true," he says. "Electronic waste is actually the fastest growing part of the global waste stream. Americans produce some seven million tons of electronic waste per year.”
The problem is compounded, he says, by federal law.
“Copyright law says if a manufacturer puts what they call a digital rights management lock on the content within the device it’s a federal crime to bypass that lock.”
Proctor says Apple’s iPhone was a poster child for this problem.
“When I started working on Right to Repair in 2018, you could not get a manual for an iPhone. You couldn’t get a single spare part. There were labels inside the phone that said ‘authorized service personnel only.’ We have forced significant changes from Apple, and now you can get hundreds of different spare part for the iPhone. The full-service manuals are online. They’ve redone the software so it no longer prohibits replacing of certain components. You no longer get a warning message when you swap out batteries outside of Apple’s control.”
And PIRG has persuaded ten states to pass Right to Repair laws.
“The legislation that we’ve been working on at the state level requires manufacturers to provide access to whatever they provide their authorized service technicians -- parts, tools, diagnostic software, information manuals -- whatever they get, we should have access to those exact same things.”
During Virginia’s last legislative session, Right to Repair bills died in committee, but they will probably be back in 2027.
“It’s a good thing," Proctor contends. "It helps small businesses. It helps consumers. It reduces waste, and frankly, it’s out stuff, and we should be able to fix it.”
PIRG’s Nathan Proctor says repairing things is like an act of resistance against the onslaught of disposable stuff, reminding us that there are better options for the future than accepting what consumer product companies tell us we should do.
The Repair Café will be open from noon until four on Saturday, June 20 at Unity of Charlottesville -- 2825 Hydraulic Road. For more information on the Repair Café movement, go to ifixit.com. To look for other events of this kind in your area, go to https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/community-repair-hub/
