Repair Cafes at Grey Lynn
Auckland's repair café movement is flourishing, offering a vital community service that champions repair over disposal. Grey Lynn 2030 has played a pivotal role in this growth, notably incubating the Auckland Library of Tools for many years.
Auckland's Thriving Repair Café Movement: Building Community and Reducing Waste
Also, Brigitte Sistig, a former Grey Lynn 2030 board member, has become a driving force behind this movement.
In 2021, she co-founded Repair Café Aotearoa New Zealand, launched the "Make it our Right to Repair" petition (which lead to new legislation after reaching then-Environment Minister David Parker), and established Repair Network Aotearoa, a charitable trust dedicated to fostering a robust repair culture.
“Repair Cafés are powerful tools for consumer education,” Sistig explains. “By offering repair solutions, they promote understanding of product lifecycles and the issue of planned obsolescence. Successfully repairing an item also boosts self-esteem and resourcefulness.”
How Repair Cafés Work:
- Free Repairs (Koha Appreciated): Skilled volunteers offer free repairs, with donations (koha) welcomed to cover operational costs.
- Volunteer-Powered: Volunteers with expertise in electronics, sewing, woodworking, and general repairs are essential.
- Community Hubs: They serve as social spaces, fostering connection and skill-sharing.
Key Organizations and Locations in Auckland:
- Auckland Library of Tools:
- Offers a "Repair and Share" program.
- Check their website (aucklandlibraryoftools.com) for event schedules.
- Doughnut Economics Advocates New Zealand (DEANZ):
- Organises repair cafés across Auckland.
- Regular events at Unitarian Church (1A Ponsonby Rd, Grey Lynn) on the second Saturday of each month, 11 am to 2 pm.
- For details, visit repaircafe.doughnuteconomicsnz.com/locations-and-events or their active Facebook page.
- It is also advisable to check eventfinda for more repair cafe events.
- National Reach: Repair Café Aotearoa NZ (RCANZ):
- Founded in late 2020, RCANZ has driven significant growth, expanding from approximately 15 to over 75 repair cafés nationwide in three years.
- Visit: repaircafeaotearoa.co.nz
- Repair Network Aotearoa:
- Charitable trust dedicated to cultivating a robust repair culture.
- Visit: repairnetworkaotearoa.org.nz/our-team
Repair Cafes
Project activities and updates
Submissions on Product Stewardship 2019
As part of Grey Lynn 2030’s push to get the community to make submissions on the Government’s Priority Product Stewardship Consultation Document, we created a video highlighting the issues which has gained over 5500 views. The video (made for us by Lyn Collie from craftmediaworkshop.com) explained the concept of Product Stewardship in easily accessible language…
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Sew Grey Lynn”- January 2019 update
Over 100 “BYO Bags Grey Lynn” have been sewn by our team with more than 70 donated so far to help businesses in the West Lynn and Richmond Rd retail areas become Plastic Bag Free! More bags were given away at the Grey Lynn Farmers Market on 1st July 2018 for the worldwide Plastic Bag…
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Grey Lynn 2030 : the first Repair Cafe
Grey Lynn 2030 held its first Repair Cafe (repaircafe.org) on Saturday 18th Feb at the St Columba Hall on Surrey Crescent. Repair Cafe is a concept that came out of The Netherlands in 2009 and is about repairing items rather than discarding them as well as creating community spirit by having everyone come together for…
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