Repair Café saves on spending through mending

The North Fork Environmental Council gathered local Mr. and Ms. Fix-its Saturday at Floyd Memorial Library in Greenport for the group’s latest Repair Café.

Originating in Amsterdam in 2009, and brought to Greenport in 2022, the Repair Café movement is an environmental and community-building initiative where those who have broken items and those who know how to repair broken items meet to fix them together. Experts act as coaches, teaching as they tweak, glue, sew and replace broken parts.

Items fixed at Repair Cafés don’t end up in landfills, saving the environment some stress and also save money since a new item doesn’t need to be purchased. Attendees leave with repaired items and also the knowledge gained to attempt a repair on their own next time.

While the event was deemed a success by organizer Margaret Rose de Cruz, with 59 items repaired or consulted on by volunteer experts, she noted that this Repair Café wasn’t as well attended as those prior.

“I was hoping for more people to come with things to repair,” she said in an email. “It’s always an unknown,” she elaborated noting several competing community events throughout the area Saturday.

Regarding organizing a Repair Café she said, “Getting people with skills is labor intensive. But people do say yes, and some come back to do it again. The sewers, gluers and sharpening people have been loyal repeaters,” she said.

And the repeat volunteers were the busiest all afternoon. Gary of Greenport manned the grinding wheel and stone, sharpening 18 knives, four pairs of scissors and eight pairs of gardening shears, as well as other tools. Many attendees said they’d already had him sharpen their knives at previous Repair Cafés.

With the usual host of volunteers on hand Saturday, this time, new coaches brought new skills to the event.

“We did have wonderful people volunteering to coach including some new people for electric, bikes and wood, as well as, registering and setting up,” Ms. De Cruz said.

One such new coach was bicycle mechanic Daniel Franc. He said he was aware of a lack of bike shops on the North Fork and therefore came out to help put people back on their bikes.

“Truing a wheel is like life; it’s about balance,” he said on the back lawn of the library with a bicycle upside down and black gloves on to protect from chain grease.

Greenport residents Roscoe Balter and Jerica Lam learned of the Repair Café while passing the library that day. They returned with two bicycles and later, a weed trimmer they had trouble starting. Howard Ruben of Cutchogue helped Mr. Balter with both the bicycle and the weed trimmer, while Mr. Franc repaired Ms. Lam’s bicycle and suggested further repairs needed.

Many items were repaired inside Floyd Memorial Library as well. Among the list were 10 clothing and textile items sewn back together; five items glued back together including pottery and ceramics, a teapot and sneakers; and in the electrical department, five lamps — one owned by Town Board Member Jill Doherty — and six small appliances including DVD, CD and record players and a toaster.

The next North Fork Environmental Council Repair Café is scheduled for Sept.13 at the George Young  Community Center in Jamesport. Interested volunteers can get involved by emailing [email protected].

Ms. De Cruz said she learned from organizing four Repair Cafés in Greenport so far, that beyond their environmental and money-saving benefits, there is a valuable social aspect to them as well.

“There’s lots of collaboration and teaching among the coaches,” she said, “Lots of jovial laugher and new connections were made.”