Repair Café's are free meeting spaces where people fix things together. Besides the obvious money saving, RC's have multiple benefits, from keeping stuff out of the landfill, to promoting collaboration, skill-sharing and community self-reliance, as well as supporting Evanston's Climate Action and Resilience Plan, just to name a few.
If you are curious about this, we recommend that you head down to your basement, closet or storage area and grab that broken item that has been there for ages, but which you could not bring yourself to throw away.
Next, SIGN UP for one time slot that matches the type or repair you need. Once at the Repair Café, one of our Expert Repair volunteers will work with you to diagnose, try to fix and/or recommend next steps and needed spare parts for your item. Remember that our ultimate mission is to empower you to take on repair, so come ready to collaborate and learn!
If you already know what is wrong with your item, bring any necessary spare parts to maximize the chances of getting it repaired on-site!
These are the repair categories available (check the current event for updated info):
- GENERAL REPAIR of small appliances and common household items (lamps, toasters, fans, blenders...) Includes GLUING of wood, ceramic and plastic of household items: toys, picture frames, crockery..
- BASIC SEWING/MENDING on clothing and other textiles. Please wash before bringing item.
- BIKE REPAIR: Slipped chains, loose bolts, stuck seats, handlebars... Simple repairs and tune ups only.
- ELECTRONICS DIAGNOSTIC: Bring your item to learn what's wrong with it, what you need to fix it and the difficulty level of the repair.
This event is co-sponsored with Citizens' Greener Evanston. Questions? Contact Bea at becheverria@cityofevanston.org.