Repair Cafe - Sharing Skills, Rescuing Treasures, Changing Culture!
By Neha Gosalia
“These are so great! When’s the next one?” “Do you hold these every month? You totally should!” These are common refrains heard by the events team at every Repair Cafe hosted by Sustainable Queenstown as part of their Resourceful Communities program. Our answer, we hold 4 events a year, but it doesn’t have to stop there!
You might walk into our Repair Cafe hoping that your favourite jacket is restored to its former glory with a fixed zip, but you’ll walk out with a warm fuzziness no amount of fleece could provide- and a fixed zip! The heart of these events, our volunteer fixers - a.k.a. Repair Heroes - are passionate about making broken treasures whole again. Their biggest reward is the smile on your child’s face when the wind-up toy with a broken leg starts trotting along its merry way once again. Many are serial Repair Revolutionaries volunteering countless hours over the last few years, some even taking items home if they were a bit of a project - all to rescue items from going into landfill.
They love having a chat and want to share their superpowers with you- walk you through the fixing steps, and if you’re keen, maybe even hand you the tools. So, if you’d like to be a DIY daredevil, but lack the confidence or knowledge, ask a Repair Hero, and they might just sprinkle their fairy dust to elevate your skills. So, the next time a button falls off, voila! YOU are the Repair Hero!
Repair Cafes around the world aim to change the way people think about their belongings, whether it’s buying smart or second-hand, doing maintenance and considering repair. Despite DIY being such an integral part of Aotearoa culture, there are shiny new temptations advertised as affordable and convenient, the cost to our beautiful whenua often overshadowed and brushed aside.
Therefore, we invite the Whakatipu community to BE THE CHANGE! Let our volunteers diagnose the problem, hand you the pliers and guide you with the solution or recommend a professional - Help us grow repair culture one rescued item at a time.
The next Repair Café events
Glenorchy Repair Cafe - Sat 11th May 11am-3pm (Glenorchy Hall, 31 Mull St)
Arrowtown Repair Cafe - Sat 18th May 11am - 3pm (St. John Presbyterian, Durham St)
More details on Facebook.com/SustainableQueenstown
Got skills? Email Scott@sustainablequeenstown.org.nz to inquire.
Resourceful Communities is created by Wastebusters, and delivered in the Whakatipu by Sustainable Queenstown. These events are proudly supported by QLDC Zero Waste District Programme.
