Got broken stuff? Toss it? No way! Bring it to a WSU Repair Café!

Spoiler alert: stuff breaks.

Whether it's bikes, fabrics, electronics, or the many other myriads of everyday items we all utilize, unfortunately, stuff breaks down over time. Or abruptly.

Thankfully Washington State University’s Repair Café does local pop-ups to help with that. They’ll fix your stuff. For free.

Amazing, right?

Yes, in a world of seemingly faster and cheaper goods, it is quite refreshing to find an organized effort to help keep more stuff out of landfills.

You bring the broken stuff, they’ll have the tools // Garret Hunt

I reached out to program coordinator, Kellee Byard who shared, “so far this year, we have prevented approximately 1,246.75 pounds from the landfill either by fixing items (992 lbs) or diagnosing the issue which may require a different repairment, specialized tools, or a specific part (254.75 lbs). I count diagnosed items because folks could still have that item fixed by a professional or come back to another Repair Café with the part. We’ve had 174 people attend the 5 Repair Cafés we have held so far this year.”

I had the pleasure of visiting the Repair Café at the Evergreen Library in April. I had two small dehumidifiers that both stopped working within one year. While it was frustrating to have nearly new items break on me, it was consoling to know there was someone in my community who wanted to help.

Repair Café is staffed with volunteer ‘fixers’ who enjoy diagnosing and fixing items. Like real-life superheroes, but for your stuff.

Volunteer, Rainer diagnoses a printer while other volunteer ‘fixers’ wait for more broken stuff to come through the door // Garret Hunt

The Repair Café I attended had ‘fixers’ specializing in jewelry repair, sewing, and other specialties. Sharing Wheels was there to repair bikes, and after filling out my intake form, I was introduced to one of the specialists in the electronics section, Chris.

Chris was a kind older gentleman who had recently retired from Boeing, where he had worked as a mechanical engineer on propulsion systems. He enjoyed repairing things at home, so his friend Rainer, another fellow ‘fixer,’ got him into it.

Chatting with Chris, Rainer, and the other friendly faces there was all a part of the fun. It was insightful to sit with Chris while he explained each step of diagnosing my item.

Chris, a retired Boeing engineer who now volunteers at the Repair Café // Garret Hunt

Chris opened the device to check the power supply. Ran some tests and examined the circuit board. Getting first-hand insight into how this engineer troubleshot the problem was educational in itself.

Along with helping diagnose an item and showing you their process, fixers can also order parts if necessary, and help you learn how you can do it on your own.

It’s almost like a mini apprenticeship, utilizing a real-life example catered just to you. Talk about a win-win.

And while the Repair Café itself is free to utilize, if additional parts need to be ordered, this will be at your expense. Repairs aren’t guaranteed and the Repair Café is not responsible for damage. But hey, if the things already broke, why not fix it!

It doesn’t hurt to try.

During my visit, unfortunately Chris was unable to repair my items. We concluded it was likely the circuit board that had gone bad. But hey, at least we tried. Sometimes, that is all you can do.

Huge kudos to Chris, all of the other volunteers, and WSU for providing the Repair Café to our community.

For info on the next upcoming Repair Café on July 19 and more general info, you can learn more here.

The Repair Café happens every month or two in Snohomish County. When I went in April I was worried there may be a long wait, but they were able to get me in within just a few minutes. For the whole experience, I was there for maybe 45 minutes, and it really wasn’t too busy during that entire time.

There are more than 2,200 Repair Cafés around the World. How lucky are we to have one right here in Snohomish County?

More Repair Cafés planned for 2023:

Wednesday, July 19th | 4pm – 8pm Willis Tucker Activity Center

Sat, September 23rd | 10am – 2pm Marysville Library

Sat, November 18th | 10am – 2pm Mountlake Terrace Library

Repair Café