Ahead of tomorrow’s worldwide Earth Day celebrations, Sheridan launched an event to promote sustainability through its inaugural Repair Café.
On April 10, a team of enthusiastic volunteer “fixers” gathered at the Sheridan Centre for Animation and Emerging Technologies (SCAET) to meet visitors who brought in household items that needed a ‘tweak’ or a full repair. Within two and a half hours, they tackled items such as computers, laptops, lamps, alarm clocks, kettles, DVD players, fans and cameras. When the café was complete, not only did many visitors leave happy as their items were fixed, but they also learned some of the steps taken to do the repairs. For the fixers, they enjoyed both the challenge of the repair, solving the problems, but also teaching others about their household item and how it works.
“I thought it was a fun time and that it was good to work with the other repair volunteers and to learn from each other,” said Ken Walker, Technologist and Faculty in the Computer Animation program at Sheridan. “Jason Teeuwissen (also from the Faculty of Animation, Arts & Design) and I worked together with a visitor who was ready to have his lamp fixed and to learn how to do it. We also tried to recycle as much of his original lamp as we could so less was going to the dump. The fellow was very happy with the results and left with his lamp in working order.”
Dayo Kefentse, a Communications and Government Relations Officer with Sheridan’s Advancement & External Relations department needed her CD player and a DVD player diagnosed by the Fixers. “It was a great event and very good to know that there was somewhere to take neglected items from home for a possible resurrection,” she said.
This month’s Repair Café was held as part of Sheridan’s Mission Zero which aims to reduce waste to landfill and foster a culture of sustainability in the Sheridan community. Wai Chu Cheng, Sheridan’s coordinator in the Office for Sustainability, believes it was a great start as a first event, and hopes others will volunteer for future events.
“In response to the requests I have received from faculty, staff and students for a Repair Café at Davis’ campus, I am hoping to plan for one there in the fall.”
Fixers Ken Walker and Jason Teeuwissen are working with visitor Sherif Wahby (right) to fix his lamp which needs re-wiring.
Visitor Sherif Wahby’s (far right) lamp is back to life! Fixers Ken Walker and Jason Teeuwissen (left and right) enjoyed the challenge. Sherif Wahby said he watched the Fixers and learned how to do the repair.
For more information on how to be a part of the next Repair Café, contact Wai Chu Cheng at waichu.cheng@sheridancollege.ca.
To learn more about the repair movement around the world and in Toronto, visit www.repaircafe.org and www.repaircafetoronto.ca.