In an increasingly disposable world, area residents did their part for the environment Saturday.
The city’s third repair café took centre stage at the Geneva Event Centre with residents bringing in a wide array of broken items in need of a bit of tender loving care.
“I think this is a wonderful idea,” said Orillia resident Margaret Ford who had a fork/knife item from South America repaired by local goldsmith Jessica Martin.
“It takes me back to when we had mending times.”
Martin was one of more than a dozen people who volunteered their time to help repair close to 70 items while diverting nearly 70 kilograms from potentially ending up in a landfill.
“I’m really into repairing and recycling so am happy to be here,” Martin said. “I hope this inspires more of this in the future.
“We need to become more sustainable and think about the impact we have on the Earth. That will help create a better tomorrow.”
Event co-organizer and Lake Country Time Trade co-founder Annalise Stenekes said the community ‘pop-up’ event has grown steadily since its inception a couple of years ago.
“We’re getting a bigger response each time,” Stenekes said, noting items are weighed after they’re repaired to determine how much waste has been diverted from the landfill.
“During the first two events about 80 kilograms were diverted. I think we live in such a throwaway society.”
The first repair café was started in Amsterdam in 2009 by Martine Postma who was feeling frustrated with society’s throw-away culture.
But it’s not just about helping the environment, according to Stenekes, who noted it also helps bring people together at a time when social media sometimes serves as the only connection.
“We live in a little bubble,” she said. “We forget that there are other people around us. We have to take turns being the helper and the helpee. This creates a circular exchange of skills and resources.”
M. Morus just moved to Orillia and was happy to to get a bicycle fixed and ready to go.
“It just needed a tuneup since it’s been sitting inside all winter,” Morus said. “This is a great event because you have many skills to help and it really brings people together.”
Jacob McClelland, co-owner of the Crank & Sprocket Bicycle Co., said some people don’t realize all their bike needs is a minor, inexpensive adjustment.
“We want to get people back on the road, especially with spring finally here,” he said.
Tom Langlois spent the day fixing a number of different household items brought to the event for repair.
“I truly loved working as a mechanic,” said Langlois, who estimated he’s been fixing things for close to five decades. “This is good for the environment, too, because it keeps stuff out of the dump.”
Fellow fixer Matt Thomson helped repair furniture.
“This is my third time here and there seems to be a growing demand,” said Thomson, who noted the event also helps drum up business for his wood design shop.
