Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, & Repair

A big component of this blog is to highlight the ways in which materials can be reused and recycled. These are important concepts in educating your users about sustainability! After all, those two R words take up two-thirds of that common adage: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle! 

(Moondance, 2021) 

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says that one of the most effective way to reduce waste, and therefore greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, is to not create it in the first place. Reusing and reducing are one way to accomplish this. By maintaining and repairing products, you are reducing the rate at which replacements need to be made and preventing waste (EPA, 2023). 

This leads me to a discussion about what I might say is the fourth R: Repair. 

Mending Libraries, Fix-It Clinics, and Repair Cafés:

One way to encourage reuse and recycling through your makerspace is to host a repair café or fix-it clinic. These events bring patrons and members of the public who have items in need of fixing together with volunteers from the local community who can help with or supervise repair efforts. Items in need of repair can include small appliances, technology, toys, and other household objects or equipment. The point of these events is to help people avoid adding easily-fixed items to landfills by teaching them how to conduct simple repairs on their own. The makerspace can provide the tools and the volunteers can provide the know-how! 

Examples and Inspiration:

Check out this article from June on a Fix-It Clinic at the Cabot Science Library at Harvard to see an example of this type of event in real life. 

The Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington, CT, hosted an adorable Teddy Bear Clinic earlier this year!

Fixit Clinic is a good resource for tracking and organizing fix-it clinics.

This 2017 article from American Libraries Magazine talks about the trend of fix-it clinics and repair cafes in libraries and the many benefits offered by these types of events (subscription access required). 

Tools and Equipment:

If you host a fix-it clinic with volunteers, it is possible they will bring their own equipment and tools to help with repair processes. But it's a good idea for the library to have its own on hand as well! Lots of libraries offer Lending (or Mending) Libraries in conjunction with their makerspaces, where they lend out equipment that can be more cost prohibitive for individuals, such as air pumps, battery testers, bike repair toolkits, cordless drills, dremel tools, drill bit sets, electricity meters, glue guns, staple guns, stud finders, tape measures, and traditional toolkits (Berlin-Peck, East Hampton, Essex, Farmington, Hartford, North Bramford, Wallingford, and Westport are the public libraries in my state of Connecticut that currently offer these types of items).

Mending libraries and fix-it clinics are both perfect for the makerspace environment that promotes sustainability. Whether offered in the form of organized events or just collections that provide users with access to the tools and resources needed for common repairs, these programs can encourage the practice of repair and reuse, which can reduce waste, unnecessary production, and contribution to landfills. They can also help people learn new skills, learn how products work, and help them save money (Cottrell, 2017).

References:

Cottrell, M. (2017). Libraries and the art of everything maintenance. American Libraries, 48(9–10), 12–15. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26380999

Environmental Protection Agency. (2023). Reducing and reusing basic. https://www.epa.gov/recycle/reducing-and-reusing-basics 

Moondance. (2021). Waste sorting garbage [Digital Art]. Pixabay. https://pixabay.com/illustrations/waste-sorting-garbage-recycling-6203308