Cultivating a fix-it mentality
The Culture of Repair Project
Honestly, I love fixing stuff. When I take the time to repair something, whatever it is, I gain a new appreciation for that thing. I make it my own when I repair an object, and the feeling of accomplishment radiates whenever I see or use what I've fixed. But the value of fixing stuff extends far beyond good feelings and personal reward. Indeed, cultivating a "culture of repair" might save us from ourselves.
Working to transform our culture into one that repairs more readily than it purchases, that repairs because that's just what you do.
This statement greets anyone who visits Bay Area-based The Culture of Repair Project. Their mission is simple but profound: That Repair be an actionable and pervasive cultural value.
The Culture of Repair Project is about more than just diminishing resource usage in manufacturing, transporting and selling new products, and post-consumption. At a more fundamental level it's about cultivating the well-being of individuals, communities, and the natural environment through changing our relationships with the material objects and social systems in our lives. It's about reshaping our culture into one that takes care of and repairs what's important to us, as a matter of course.
The organization is run by three talented women with varied backgrounds in the arts, engineering, and education. The trio is quite the powerhouse of fix-it knowledge! Among several initiatives they have going on, The Culture of Repair Project provides free tool kits for educators, makers, and doers to understand the value of fixing things and provides ideas for teaching others.
If you are interested in fixing your stuff, check out The Culture of Repair Project. Besides education tool kits, the site offers loads of other resources and many links to similar initiatives in the US and around the world.
Until next time.
JRC
Our throw away culture isn’t sustainable. Great website referral…really like the Japanese philosophy of Kintsugi where the repairs are embellished with shiny stuff to show the object’s honored history.
“Design for repair” and “design for recycle” has to be incorporated at the earliest stages of product development. Unfortunately, the misnamed “ideal design” of today focuses on minimizing proximate cost (with no consideration for full cycle and environmental costs), and having all parts wear out at the same rate, so when anything fails, you just toss and replace. After all, why have 20 year life hardware in a product that only lasts 5 years?
Perhaps as a society we will find it easier to think long term as technology enables us to live much longer and healthier lives. Knowing we will have to live with the future consequences of our actions in the present may actually change them for the better.