Ōpōtiki invited to embrace the art of fixing
Several passionate Ōpōtiki locals are hard at work to set up a repair café in Ōpōtiki with the first meeting this Saturday at Te Tāhuhu o Te Rangi for those who want to get involved as helping hands or administration volunteers.
The Repair Café movement started in Holland and has spread around the world with a particular uptick in recent years. The idea is to ‘fix things’ rather than ‘chuck them’ and teach people how to repair their own things and reduce waste going to landfill.
There are now 50 Repair Café operating in New Zealand with another 12 in startup mode.
Meg Collins is the co-convener for the group and said that a post on a community Facebook page had generated a lot of discussion and more than 200 people had shown an interest, “so the need is certainly here in Ōpōtiki.”
“We are takin the first steps and are looking for volunteers as repairers and administration staff to start up our own Repair Café in Ōpōtiki. People like retired electricians, woodworkers, cycle mechanics, watch repairers, musical instrument repairers, sewing machinists (there are 2 sewing machines available), or any other handy persons who can be available for two hours per month, we’d love to hear from you so please come along to the meeting,” Meg Collins said.
She said that once the group has a good number of people who can help repair and organise a Repair Café, the group will start meeting regularly, hopefully as soon as August.
“There is a lot of mahi in these first steps to make sure we have the places, materials, volunteers to help out with administration and things, and importantly people who can repair things. Once we establish this, we’ll be set up to go and start having events and activities where people can bring along their broken or damaged belongings,” Meg said.
Ōpōtiki District Council’s Operations and Systems Manager, Anthony Kirikiri said that there was a natural crossover with Zero Waste, recycling and anything that reduces waste to landfill.
“Ōpōtiki was one of the first towns in New Zealand to adopt Zero Waste and this venture fits nicely into this kaupapa.
“It is awesome to see this group getting set up as there are so many benefits to the Repair Café approach – sustainability and a strong sense of community and of course a reduction in waste. It is so expensive for us to dispose of the waste we generate when we buy and then throw things away. This build momentum and over time reduces waste to landfill. It marks a much-needed change in thinking and approach towards a culture of repair,” Mr Kirikiri said.
The meeting for volunteers is at Te Tāhuhu o Te Rangi on Saturday 15 July at 10am or contact Meg 022 173 3061 or Katherine on 027 288 2105 to find out more.
