Lennoxville “repair café” offers tools to dismantle planned obsolescence

This coming Sunday afternoon, Lennoxville’s Square Queen will host its first “repair café,” a free activity aimed at encouraging people to fix up their broken or run down belongings by both offering repair

services on site and teaching them how to do it themselves.

Evelyne Verette, coordinator of the event, said that the goal of this event is to help cut down on household waste and combat planned obsolescence; the idea that products are designed to break and be replaced on a regular

basis.

“The goal of the repair café is to help people learn about repairing things themselves to avoid having to buying more but also to give a longer life to the items,” Verette said.

The activity will take place from

1 p.m. to 5 p.m. and is free to attend. The coordinator invited people to bring their broken bicycles, small appliances, electronics, dull knives, ripped clothes, and small furniture.

“You cannot bring your fridge,” Verette said, emphasizing that people should focus on small items. The coordinator also put microwaves and small-engine repair on the no-go list, but other than that she argued that almost anything is repairable, provided the right materials are on hand. “If there are parts needed, participants will need to go and buy them,” she added.

“Repair Cafés allow for the free repair or diagnosis with the help of volunteerspecialists,” Verette said, pointing out that the concept is not unique to

Sherbrooke. The items that can be repaired vary greatly depending on the capabilities of the volunteers present, but they make an effort to ensure that if something cannot be fixed on site, then the owner knows where they can take thing from there. “(The events) are also an opportunity for neighbours to meet and share knowledge and experiences,” the coordinator added.

This will be the fourth edition of the repair café in Sherbrooke, and the second such event this year. The last event, held at Cafe Baobab in the Ascot neighbourhood in May, saw more than 40 people participate, and more than 50 household items were brought. According to Verette the cafés were started in Sherbrooke in 2019 before being stopped by the pandemic. With the Return of organized activities, the hope is to significantly increase the frequency of the events.

“It is a free event, it is open to families, and it will be bilingual,” the coordinator said, encouraging people to dig up their broken stuff and come see what they can do.