Café goers overseeing the repairs made to their items (supplied photo/Naomi Mihilewicz)

By Keaton Brown

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Repair Café events coming to the Battlefords, Meadow Lake this month

Oct 3, 2019 | 12:03 PM

Residents of the Battlefords and Meadow Lake will be able to breathe new life into old household items later this month.

The Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council is hosting Repair Café events in communities across Saskatchewan, including both Meadow Lake and the Battlefords, on October 26.

Repair Café is an event where people can bring in damaged or broken household items and have them repaired for free by volunteers. These can range from clothing that needs a few repairs, to household appliances that might need some soldering done, to small pieces of household furniture that might need some wood glue or new screws.

People are able to stay with their item while it is being repaired to learn a little about how small-scale household repairs work. It is also a café, so drinks and desserts will be available to everyone who drops by.

The events will be hosted at the North Battleford Public Library for the Battlefords and the Royal Canadian Legion for Meadow Lake.

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Repair Café is an event that was started in the Netherlands about 10 years ago. From there they have spread across the world with the goal of bringing repair culture back into the world.

“The idea is that just because there is a small part of something that is broken does not mean that it is garbage. If you connect with the right people who can teach you how to fix something and show you how to fix things you can make them usable again,” Naomi Mihilewicz, communications coordinator for the Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council, said.

Events will be held in communities across the province on Oct. 26, which coincides with Waste Reduction Week in Canada.

Mihilewicz said that each day of Waste Reduction Week has a different theme and the theme for that Saturday is swapping, sharing and repairing.

“We thought that Repair Cafés were just a really good fit for that theme day. It is something tangible people can get involved in with an immediate impact on their life. They can bring their beloved lamp in and get it repaired instead of sending it to the landfill,” she said.

These events are powered by the volunteers who donate their time and expertise to repair items. The Saskatchewan Waste Reduction Council is still looking for more volunteers for their Battlefords and Meadow Lake events.

Anyone who is interested in seeing events like this one come to the Battlefords or Meadow Lake can volunteer their time at the clothing, appliances or furniture repair stations by emailing Naomi at Naomi@swrc.ca or messaging them on their Facebook page.

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Keaton.brown@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow