Why use a Repair Cafe? Here are 6 reasons to give it a try.
1. Reduce your impact on the environment
The Clean Earth Trust’s vision is to reduce negative human impact on the environment, and one of the ways we can do this is to move away from a Linear economy, where goods are produced, used then discarded, to a Circular economy, where goods and materials are kept in use and waste and pollution is significantly reduced.
Repairing and re-use forms a key part of a Circular economy; instead of buying new, we reduce the quantity of raw materials and energy consumed, and the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced in both production and transportation of goods.
2. Have fun and feel good
The Repair Café aims to be a sociable and friendly place where you can chat over a cup of tea, meet with new people and feel the pleasure of learning something new. You might find some inspiration for up-cycling old items and find a new hobby!
As well as being fun, the Repair Café could be great for your mental health and wellbeing; connecting with others, learning new skills and giving back are three of the New Economic Forum’s ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ (https://neweconomics.org/uploads/files/five-ways-to-wellbeing-1.pdf) which is well recognised and adopted by governments and organisations worldwide including the States of Guernsey (https://www.gov.gg/article/156942/health--social-care---5-ways-to-wellbeing-campaign).
3. Save money
We aim to provide the Repair Café service at no or low cost to users (any cost would likely be for a part that we can’t source easily for free), so compared to the cost of purchasing a new item a repair can be a great option to save some of your well-earned money.
4. Give a treasured item a new lease of life
Some things just can’t be replaced. We will do our best at the Repair Café to try to help repair an item of sentimental value, and if we can't, to find out if there is someone else who can help.
5. Set an example
Actions speak volumes, and at the Clean Earth Trust we believe that small individual actions all add up and that our actions can encourage and convince others to behave differently. Feel proud about repairing, tell your kids about it, post photos about it, talk about it and more people will start considering repairing themselves.
6. Become more self sufficient
Shops closed? Tradesmen all booked up? It’s great to be able to get help from others, but sometimes it may be quicker and easier to fix something at home yourself. Sitting with our volunteers and picking up some skills from them may give you some confidence to try repairing at home or follow an online video or instruction manual.