Inspiration Monday! We are in a state of learned helplessness with our evolving throw-away society. When something breaks and needs repair, manufacturers often require us to pay exorbitant prices. There’s a reason for that. Stand up and fight for your right to repair. It is unsustainable for the earth for us to continue throwing things away when there are alternatives. Get inspired with The Right to Repair and Repair Cafe.

Well, hello, this is inspiration.

Monday.

Today's inspirations are taken from the right to repair and repair cafes with Jackie Carter, a librarian who opened up the first repair cafe in the state of Idaho.

Good job.

Included are patrons, Dale, Cory and Rochelle.

Episodes 6, 7, and 145.

The founder of North Balwyn's Repair Cafe in Australia, Andrew Tynan, and the event coordinator Anne Davey share their inspirations along with repair cafe patron, Albert episode 33

Earth to Autism teams up with repair cafe and Dr.

Leanne Sculli along with repair cafe patrons episode 58.

And Kaz and known globally as, Mend It Australia, share their philosophies.

Episode 32, as well as another episode coming soon.

Repair cafes are opening up all over the world and legislation is being passed globally regarding the right to repair.

Consumers are eager to have their belongings fixed.

The right to repair and repair cafe.

Go hand in hand with what consumers want as well as what is good for sustainability and our earth.

Listeners welcome to inspiration, Monday.

Repair Cafe and The Right To Repair.

I try to do as much as I can, but I feel like, I've never done enough.

My mission of course, is to bring the world of positive imprints to my listeners and to inspire listeners, to find their own positive imprints.

We want the visitors to learn how to repair things themselves so that they can start to think about their belongings differently.

This isn't something I just toss away; it can probably be fixed.

We can look after ourselves.

We can go forward by ourselves.

We don't need the close scrutiny that comes with local government and corporate.

They want to try and keep us in a box so they can say, right, this is how you're going to live your life.

We just want to get out there and preach the right to repair.

The model was taking repair out into the community and making it more formalized.

We've been programmed to just to see everything as being disposable.

That's our platform Right to repair movement the right to repair.

One of the angles that I was interested in, when I started this up was, related to problem solving.

The common mindset now is, and I think we've been driven into this idea that you buy something and it's only supposed to last a couple of years, and then you just get the newest model, and that benefits

The consequences of throwaway society it's, uh, it stopped working.

I need to throw it out and buy a new one.

Is the standard response.

There's another way.

Yeah, and nobody wants to replace their items before it's time..

The right to repair movement.

If something goes wrong with, with your iPhone or your your iPad or something, you are not allowed to fix it.

You have to take it to them and they will repair it or replace the part, whatever at a big cost to you.

corporate greed.

It's a really good initiative.

What is repair cafe?

I don't want things to be thrown away.

I'd rather keep reusing things.

In 2009, Martina Postma started the first repair cafe in the Netherlands.

It has reached almost every continent.

There's actually a thing called planned obsolescence.

When something is manufactured it's designed to fail within a couple of years so that the consumer is forced to replace it.

I need to change my ways as well.

So many people donate us old curtains and sheets and things.

We make the boomerang bags for shopping.

It's a reusable bag it's got our logo on it.

I try and refashion re-purpose, cut up textiles, reuse them for something else.

Refashioning and repurposing I think these are buzzwords

things aren't made to last.

And I think that's part of what the, the right to repair movement is about.

beach supermarkets have banned single use plastic bags.

They have people bring things like bicycles and electronics.

Is it catching on?

I think in areas it is, but in other areas, people just, haven't got that scope to see what's in front of them.

If you attempt to do it yourself or get someone to do it, then it voids your warranty.

People are okay with that until they stop and think, well, I own this.

I paid a lot of money for this.

It's mine, and I should be able to do what I want with it.

The right to repair, I think would certainly support a much healthier competition, worldwide

With textiles, is that connection of the mending and how that can be a bit spiritual in a way

sustainability is a really big deal.

People they're being encouraged to just buy clothes and throw them away and buy them and throw them away.

When you buy something it's yours, there shouldn't be any restrictions on what you can do with that item once you're handed your hard-earned money over the counter.

Volunteers for repair cafes repair your items.

I'm quite happy to give up my time to save that item from being thrown away.

And I think that's what I'd like to see more.

It's going to cost you, $75 to fix, but if you fixed it yourself or took it to someone else, it might be 10 or $15.

You see the younger guys coming through the formal education process.

But in terms of skills and experience in getting a problem and trying to work their way through the problem, I think we're sort of developing , a society that's getting less opportunity to do that.

And that's part of this throwaway society.

Europe they've um, leading the way really, not just with the Right to Repair but also looking at repairability, design of products.

Break your throwaway habit.

They intentionally make things so that they don't last as long.

And so the consumer is forced to replace it and to spend more money.

There is issues around bureaucrats trying to stop us from fixing our things.

When I heard about this, I wanted to tear other people's stuff apart and fix it.

Earth to autism, Inc.

On a mission to help adults with autism.

Repair cafe is a place in which volunteers gain experience

the repair cafe it's a chance for them to practice what they're learning.

They don't make them like they used to.

And there's a reason for that.

We do need some initiative to move things in a different direction.

Repair Cafe is a bit of that bartering.

I've got my skills.

You bring in your broken item.

I'll fix it for you and you can walk out the door and I'm happy to do that.

I have a paper shredder here that will run in reverse, but wasn't running forward.

So this kind, gentlemen, Corey here is fixing it for me.

This lady was converting her VHS tapes to DVDs and I retracked the tapes that were on it.

Just because the zipper split, it doesn't necessarily mean that it's should be tossed away.

There is a term for that which we call here, uh, a true materialism.

Materialistic people think materialistic is just consumerism, whereas true, true materialism is about loving the things that you have.

Whether you spent like $500 on a beautiful cashmere sweater, or whether you spent 20 bucks, you could still fix that thing.

I definitely appreciate my mom's sewing even more after mending this.

It's definitely a sentimental element to it.

I'm very happy.

That's repaired.

And when you turn that switch on and the lamp works, or the toaster works or whatever, the big smile comes on their face.

And that's one of the most rewarding things for doing these repair cafes is looking across the other side of the table and seeing that result.

Wait!

Don't toss it!

Repair it.

If you can find someone that can repair it better than what the system can, why not?

There's a lot of things you could do that are actually simple fixes to get something functional rather than just throwing away and buying a new one.

It's a shame to see some of this stuff thrown away that's easily fixed.

Karen has made Singleton t-shirts into carry bags and I take them into the supermarket.

The remarks I get oh, that's a great idea.

Oh, I wouldn't have thought of that.

Being responsible stewards of the materials once we have them.

That was my goal.

Not to have to replace it.

Learned helplessness,

I think no matter where you are, politically or financially, what scale you're on, we can all agree that saving money is a good thing and not having to spend money, replacing something all the time.

It's a win-win for everyone in the environment.

Don't become intentionally helpless.

Stand up and fight for your right to tinker your right to repair.

It is unsustainable for the earth for us to continue throwing things away when there are alternatives.