We can fix it! Share skills, learn skills at the Festival of Repair!
Written for our website by The Rubbish Diet, West London Waste has been supporting residents to take The Rubbish Diet since 2012.
Throughout September, The Rubbish Diet is running a Festival of Repair inviting you to repair one thing rather than replace it.
We love repair! It saves us money and helps us to hang onto our favourite stuff, like Karen’s son’s panda, saved by emergency surgery. Repair is better than recycling for the environment too. By delaying buying new, we are saving all the raw materials and energy that go into making things. To make just one T-shirt uses a startling 2,649 litres of water, 150 g of pesticides and fertilizer.
It’s easy to get started. Just pledge to repair one thing in September and you’ll get our quick guide to all the best resources on repair.
Or maybe you’re a fixpert already or want to learn? Join us at Uxbridge Restart Party on 19th September 11-2pm Pavilions Shopping Centre, Uxbridge, UB8 1LN. You can learn how to fix your broken electronics, get some tips on repairing your clothes or come and mend your bike. Restart Parties take place all over London but this is the first one in Hillingdon!
To get the idea see our short video about west London’s first restart party here. If you’re a whizz at repairing or just like tinkering then bring your tools and come help others restart their things. This is a community repair event bringing people with repair skills together with people who want to learn how to fix their things. For the latest details of events see the Festival Line Up and get in touch with Sarah on sarahk@therubbishdiet.org.uk to find out how you can get involved. We have loads of great opportunities to volunteer as a Rubbish Diet champion.
Want to get a flavour of what it’s about? Meet Joanne the Rubbish Diet champion who is behind an outbreak of repair events in Harrow.
She helped organise a Restart party at Harrow’s Gayton library and loved the experience. She said:
“It was a good feeling knowing people wanted to come to repair and great to see volunteers who want to help people learn to fix too. There was a really good buzz! I didn’t know how well it would go the first time. If other people have been thinking about hosting one I would say give it a go. There is definitely a need for it and an interest in it. If people interested in fixing are thinking of going along to learn, I would say go! You’re not guaranteeing a fix but you’ll learn something, find out how to get a part and find out about resources to help you learn, like You Tube videos.”
The festival is online too! Thanks to Rubbish Dieters who have told us about repairers, skill shares and make do and mend activities happening all over west London. We’ve created a repair map for west London so you can repair. You can add to this map too! Know a place where you can learn skills or have a favourite repairer you always go to? Go ahead….put them on the map!
Join a national tweetchat all about fixing things on twitter every Thursday throughout September from 8-9pm hosted by Jen Gale @makedoandmendyear just use the #makedoandmendhour hashtag to follow and chat.
