DIY repairs... if you dare
People often think it is cheaper to throw away broken appliances and gadgets and buy replacements rather than pay for missing parts or repair.
But appliances, furniture, toys, clocks, watches and other items can often be fixed and there are a growing number of Repair Cafés run by DIY volunteers to show how to do the work and offer tools to do it yourself. All for free.
The cafés say 60% of objects brought in are repaired, so it is worth a go if you find one.
France has 150 repair cafés in a Europe-wide movement that was started by a Dutch journalist in 2009. In 2017 it saved 300,000 objects from the dump with 50,000 people visiting and being helped by 21,000 volunteers. There are also other, independent, cafés.
Repair Café France treasurer David Bourguignon started a café in Marseille and says they are sociable places: “The group of volunteers make up a sort of family and it is very human as people enjoy using skills to help others.
“Repairs save both money and the environment.”
Groups run in different ways, opening once or several times a month with, generally, no booking. Find your nearest café at repaircafe.org/fr
