Carlisle Repair Cafe hopes to reduce waste and save people money

A new cafe aims to help people reduce waste and save money.

Carlisle Repair Cafe was created to help people repair things instead of throwing them away, reduce unnecessary production of new items, reduce the volume of rubbish that goes to landfill and save people money.

Imagine a hoover purchased only two years ago that has stopped working already, it’s just out of warranty so the manufacturer won’t help. Replacing the hoover adds to the demand for hoovers; effectively one more is made.

It takes energy to make it, energy to ship it across the world and energy to drive to the shop and buy it. Most of this energy comes from burning fossil fuels and contributes to climate change.

The old hoover is likely to be sent to landfill where it will take hundreds of years to decompose, and finally, the owner of the hoover is at least £100 worse off. Now apply this concept to everything you own, clothes, toys, appliances, everything.

The cause of a lot of item malfunctions is repairable at home and there are specialists that can help with those that are not. Carlisle Repair Cafe opens for the first time this Saturday from 10am until 1pm at Botcherby Community Centre and the last Saturday of the month thereafter.

With invaluable support from Penrith Repair Cafe, Sustainable Carlisle, Cumbria Actions for Sustainability and a grant from the National Lottery Community Fund
and ZCC Community Climate Grants, the repair cafe is run by a group of local volunteers who will help people from the community fix their broken possessions; saving the world and lots of money.

Everyone is invited to bring their broken possessions, no matter what they are or how old they are. The volunteers will try their best to help and if they can’t fix it they will give you some helpful advice on what to do next.

Some examples of things you might bring in are: