I’m increasingly inspired by stories trickling out of Europe of initiatives that reduce the footprints of individuals while bringing them together around communities of interest as well as in the spirit of neighbourliness. It seems there’s wisdom being salvaged from thousands of years of living on top of each other in constant competition for limited land and resources - not to mention a period of humbling near-obsolescence following the fall of several empires and the economic and political ascension of former colonies. Such is the stuff of paradigm shifts and post-apocalyptic innovation.

Take this story about a new “cafe” in the Netherlands, via the NYTimes, An Effort to Bury a Throwaway Culture One Repair at a Time.

“Inspired by a design exhibit about the creative, cultural and economic benefits of repairing and recycling,” Amsterdam’s first Repair Cafe was conceived of as a way to help people reduce waste in community with one another. People bring in items to be repaired by volunteers who really like fixing things. 

The concept has apparently been wildly successful since it debuted a couple years ago, raising more than half a million dollars through a government grant, foundations and small donations and spawning 30 other groups across the Netherlands, “where neighbors pool their skills and labor for a few hours a month to mend holey clothing and revivify old coffee makers, broken lamps, vacuum cleaners and toasters, as well as at least one electric organ, a washing machine and an orange juice press.”

“The social effect alone is important. When you get people together to do something for the environment, you raise consciousness. And repairing a vacuum cleaner is a good feeling,” Han van Kasteren, a professor at the Eindhoven University of Technology who works on waste issues, tells the NYTimes.

“In Europe, we throw out so many things,” said Martine Postma, a former journalist who came up with the concept after the birth of her second child led her to think more about the environment. “It’s a shame, because the things we throw away are usually not that broken. There are more and more people in the world, and we can’t keep handling things the way we do.

“I had the feeling I wanted to do something, not just write about it,” she said. But she was troubled by the question: “How do you try to do this as a normal person in your daily life?”

…

“Sustainability discussions are often about ideals, about what could be,” Ms. Postma said. “After a certain number of workshops on how to grow your own mushrooms, people get tired. This is very hands on, very concrete. It’s about doing something together, in the here and now.”

While the Netherlands puts less than 3 percent of its municipal waste into landfills, there is still room for improvement, according to Joop Atsma, the state secretary for infrastructure and the environment.

…

Evelien H. Tonkens, a sociology professor at the University of Amsterdam, agreed. “It’s very much a sign of the times,” said Dr. Tonkens, who noted that the Repair Cafe’s anti-consumerist, anti-market, do-it-ourselves ethos is part of a more general movement in the Netherlands to improve everyday conditions through grass-roots social activism.

Read the full article.

My first thought when I read about the Repair Cafe was that it would make a fantastic monthly fundraising event for the folks at the Vancouver Tool Library, which would have a readymade shop with tools and a skilled fix-it community to serve as hosts.

Bringing people into the Tool Library who don’t know how to fix stuff themselves and allowing them to watch the handypeople at work could be incredibly empowering and inspire DIY wannabes to become members of the cooperative themselves. Gala Milne, I’m looking at you, friend… Just a thought. :)