Repair Matters

We believe that by engaging more people to be fixers rather than consumers, we can not only reduce the waste that is going into the landfills, but also slow down the current production system. We also see an opportunity for knowledge sharing to occur and sustainable thoughts to be developed. Repair Matters is a systems design that helps to grow and empower the repair community in Vancouver. Adding to the common repair events/workshops where the expert teaches the non-expert, we strive to bring people with different skill sets and experiences together, ranging from novices to experts, to share knowledge and collectively troubleshoot repair solutions. Read More

We think repair is important because it can keep objects out of the landfill. Repair is also an initiator in rethinking our consumption patterns. Everyone we’ve had a chance to talk with through our project work has had a different idea and story about what repair is and can do. We put together some of the key ideas people had in the Repair Matters Manifesto.

The PDF of the poster can be downloaded here.

Communal repair workshops is a great place for people to meet up and troubleshoot repair solutions together. During The Commons event at ECUAD in February, the theme was “Community” and we got the opportunity to set up a space for Repair Matters in the Concourse Gallery. During the one-week event we had an installation on the wall showing examples of repaired objects and various tools that can be used for repairs. On the Tuesday and Thursday we invited people to bring a broken object they had and participate in a repair workshop. The Commons was a great way for us to get valuable feedback on our project. Read More

On Saturday morning around 11 PM Jayde and I met up outside Prado Cafe on Commercial Street. I had brought my bike with me and the newly acquired (secondhand) wooden box was attached to the back. After purchasing two delicious cups of coffee we began sorting through the tools and materials we had brought with us and laid them out in the box.

Our main objective for the day was to see what reactions we got from people when we had the bike with the tools there and when we started doing some smaller repairs outside the cafe ourselves. To turn some extra heads we attached some yellow balloons to the bike setup. Never underestimate the effectiveness of balloons in sparking passersby’s interest!

Everyone we spoke with were excited about the project and to get a chance to share their own experiences related to repair. We had some insightful conversations that day about topics such as the importance of darning socks and how a red patch on a brown sweater can add beauty to the piece that wasn’t present before.