The Rethink Waste Project will be partnering with the High Desert Maker Mill (213 SW Columbia St.) to host its first weekend Repair Café. On Saturday November 14 from 4-6pm and Sunday November 15 from 12-2pm, volunteer fixers will be on hand to help fix your broken items including small appliances, clothing, outdoor gear, electronics, jewelry, small furniture and items requiring welding.
America Recycles Day, November 15, is a day to help people learn how to recycle right in their own communities. We’ll be repairing stuff and providing recycling information to the public to engage in this nationwide event.
“Since 2013, volunteers have repaired over 150 items at six repair cafes” says Denise Rowcroft, Program Manager of the Rethink Waste Project. “Repairing instead of replacing conserves resources and prevents waste, but it also shifts our relationship with our stuff. In our current culture where things are made to be obsolete within six months, it is revolutionary to repair instead of replace, and there is an international shift towards this thinking right now.”
The Fall Repair Café will be held at the High Desert Maker Mill. This is a new space created for collaboration, manufacturing and education. “This is a great fit for a repair café, because the space is intended for people who want to get hands on and make, create, and learn new skills. It’s a natural fit for taking things apart to fix them”.
People are invited to bring their broken goods and have a chance to check out the space. In the spirit of making, there will be other activities and demonstrations happening. These include:
• The Bend Energy Challenge will be on hand helping people make DIY door draft stoppers to conserve energy and save money in their homes by stopping door leaks.
• Rethink Waste Project will be educating people on what is recyclable locally and providing take home signs to share with their households.
• HDMM will be hosting additional maker inspired activities, including a movie following the repair café called “Maker: a documentary on the Maker Movement”.
Rethink Waste is a program of The Environmental Center in partnership with Deschutes County Department of Solid Waste, Bend Garbage & Recycling, Deschutes Recycling, High County Disposal and Cascade Disposal.
About the Rethink Waste Project:
The Rethink Waste Project is an initiative to raise awareness about the impact of waste in our community and to engage individuals, families, and businesses in reducing, reusing and recycling waste. Our educational-based programs provide the tools and resources you need to reduce waste – and rethink the way you think about waste. To learn more visit www.RethinkWasteProject.org
About The Environmental Center:
The Environmental Center educates and advocates for a sustainable future in Central Oregon. We believe that sustainability hinges on how we live our daily lives: at home, at school and at work. The Center’s focus areas include educating kids, promoting zero waste, supporting local businesses, and promoting energy efficiency and renewables through the Bend Energy Challenge. To learn more visit our facility at 16 NW Kansas Avenue in downtown Bend or online at www.envirocenter.org.
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About the High Desert Maker Mill:
The High Desert Maker Mill is a space for invention, creative collaboration and advanced manufacturing among a myriad of science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics oriented activities. Since winning the Bend Venture unConference in 2013, the High Desert Makers have ignited the DIY spirit in Central Oregon through many outreach events, and will evolve their educational and collaborative programs with this official hub. The Maker Movement is the popular resurgence of do-it-yourself culture that encompasses creative activities from advanced manufacturing like 3D scanning and printing, to craftsman or artisanal activities like metal and woodworking. It is a global movement of both hobbyists and entrepreneurs. To learn more visit www.MakerMill.org
