International Repair Day to feature local heroes

On the 17th of October, “repair heroes” from Galway and Cork were given the stage as part of International Repair Day. Coordinated by the Right to Repair movement and the European RREUSE network, the campaign saw repair experts from Duhallow Revamp and An Mheitheal Rothar participate in a series of short videos from across Europe to highlight their contribution to the repair movement.

Repair can help to reduce the huge quantities of household goods that we discard every year, including 53 million tonnes of electronic waste globally. Studies have shown about 15 – 30% of everything discarded could be reused or easily repaired. However, many repair skills have been forgotten and the repair of everyday bikes, furniture, appliances and clothes has become harder with the use of cheap parts, poor design and greater complexity.

“The way to make sure everyday items can be repaired is to think about repair at the product design stage, and make products as easy as possible to repair.” says Paul O’Donnell, Lead Coordinator at An Mheitheal Rothar. “Repair can create so much social, environmental and economic value. For example our ReCycle Your Cycle initiative repairs bikes that would otherwise be scrapped, creating jobs and training opportunities here in Galway.”

“We need more support for the repair sector to keep goods going for longer”, says Colm O’Connor at Duhallow Revamp. “This not only provides local jobs and training opportunities, but also hugely benefits the environment”.

The European Commission has been making some headway recently, with new legislation obliging manufacturers to design certain appliances in a more durable and repairable way and to ensure repair services, parts and manuals are available. However, there is still a great deal to do to get repair back into the mainstream.

“One first step is to support local repair activities”, says Claire Downey, Executive with CRNI. “We are very proud to see our members being represented at European level as it shows the importance of their repair work. We also hope it will encourage people locally to try out their repair service instead of just replacing things”.

Find out more about your local repair and reuse options online with either crni.ie/directory or repairmystuff.ie.

Ends

For media inquiries or to arrange an interview contact: Claire Downey, CRNI’s Executive, at  Tel: +353 87 173 5184 or Email: [email protected]

About An Mheitheal Rothar

An Mheitheal Rothar is a not for profit cooperative based in Galway City. Our award winning ReCycle Your Cycle initiative takes bikes sent for scrap to Galway City Council Civic Amenities Centre and repairs them, at the same time teaching valuable cycle mechanic skills to our trainees. This saves carbon emissions and reduces pollution from transporting, smelting down and recasting scrap metal. At the same time it provides skilled jobs, training opportunities and an affordable, fossil fuel free means of transport.

We are also proud to offer a full set of repair and service options, undertaken by our team of experienced mechanics. More information about our work is available at @MheithealRothar on Facebook or Twitter.

About Duhallow Revamp

Duhallow Revamp is a social enterprise offering furniture collection, repair and redistribution. From its establishment in 2016, REVAMP has collected in excess of 4500 items of furniture, diverting a net weight of over 110 tons from potentially ending up in landfills. Of this, over 103 tons has been redistributed in the community. Duhallow REVAMP also provides a refurbishment service for those who wish to have their old pieces upcycled and revived. More information about our work is available at @DuhallowFurnitureRevamp on Facebook or @duhallowrevamp on Twitter.

About Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI)

Community Resources Network Ireland (CRNI) is the all-island representative body for community-based reuse, recycling and waste prevention organisations. Our vision is an Ireland where the word ‘waste’ doesn’t exist and where our entire community benefits from the social, environmental and economic value of all reusable resources. The network is funded under the EPA’s National Waste Prevention Programme. More information on our work and members is available at www.crni.ie and at @CRNIreland on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram.

About the Right to Repair Campaign

Right to Repair is a coalition of European organizations active around the cause of repair. We believe products should last longer, and therefore when broken, they should be repaired. This requires products to be designed for repair as well as support for repairers of all kinds. More information at repair.eu or follow us @righttorepaireurope on Twitter and Facebook or @R2REurope on instagram.

About RREUSE

RREUSE represents social enterprises active in re-use, repair and recycling.  We want the EU and national governments to move from promoting just recycling and waste management to putting secondhand first. More information at rreuse.org or follow us @RREUSE.RREUSE on Facebook or @rreuse_brussels on Twitter.

• October 17, 2020