If you live in the Indre-et-Loire and have an old sewing machine in need of repair, then help is at hand.
Anne Douard, who lives in the Tours area, set up her business called AnnRépare (Anne repairs) to service, maintain and repair all types of sewing machines. She has even created a sewing machine “scrapyard” so she can salvage parts, reports France BleuTouraine.
Anne Douard collects and repairs sewing machine, and also offer sewing tipsAnnRépare
Anne spotted a niche in the market when she wanted her own machine fixing.
In this era of ‘fast clothing’, mending and making-do is a great way to save money, and Anne also offers workshops to help customers get started with their machine if they are new to sewing.
In keeping with her sustainability ethos, Anne is also happy to hop on her bike to collect your sewing machine and return it once mended. Alternatively the machine can be dropped off at a point relais.
Toads on the road project success
Volunteers in the Eure department of Normandy who patrol roadsides to help amphibians cross the road save between 3,000 and 5,000 frogs, toads and other salamanders each year.
The animals cross roads in order to reach ponds where they reproduce, but Eure authorities have installed a tarpaulin to catch the animals and prevent them from crossing.
The animals take refuge in buckets under the tarpaulin, allowing volunteers to collect the buckets and guide the creatures to the ponds in safety.
Crematorium heat warms homes
For the last five years, heat emitted during the cremation of the deceased at the crematorium in Petit-Quevilly, near Rouen in Seine-Maritime, has been reused to heat 100 homes and municipal facilities in the surrounding area.
“We wanted to ensure that the energy used to run the building was not wasted,” the socialist mayor of the town, Charlotte Goujon, told franceinfo.fr. She is also vice president in charge of ecological transition for the Rouen Normandy metropolitan.
An existing 20km network of underground pipes had been supplying heat to buildings in the municipality since 1974, using energy produced by the waste incineration plant.
