A movement making waves around the world for its efforts to save broken household items from ending up in landfills is celebrating its successful first year in Tauranga.

Whether it’s an heirloom, a collectable or just a household item that needs fixing, once a month volunteers at Repair Café restore as much as they’re able to, in an effort to minimise waste.

“We don’t want to throw something away that could be fixed so if possible, we will repair it. If it still needs to go in the landfill, then at least they tried to save it,” says one of the co-ordinators, Jennie Halliday.

It’s designed to help save the planet, and already Tauranga and Western Bay of Plenty residents are making a difference.

“We get around 20 items at each event, and in February alone, we estimate that we saved .85 cubic metres of household items from going into the landfill – which would’ve weighed around 35kg with a value of $3000,” says Jennie.

“We’re so proud of building this amazing group of people in a space that brings people together and pushes back against the concept of goods being so easily disposable.”

The Repair Café is held on the last Saturday of each month with bookings taken in advance online.

Currently, the café offers free-of-charge assessment and repairs of items such as small appliances, household items, computing and small devices, wooden items and toys, bikes, and clothing and sewing mending – but no alterations or zipper replacements.

More repair service get added based on volunteer repairer availability. Volunteers range from fabric repairers to IT engineers.

“Recently, the belt of a 60-year-old film projector was fixed with a special rubber band and a 70-year-old heirloom teddy bear was mended and given embellishments,” says Jennie.

“Some people bring their kids to see what electrical items look like inside.

“Sometimes people can be taught what to do, so they can carry out future repairs or finish something at home. Once, we used one customer’s toaster to fix someone else’s. It’s always a fun, creative social occasion.”

This Saturday, October 28, the Repair Café, based at Tinkd Makerspace, 148 Durham St, Tauranga, is open 9.30-11.30am as usual – followed by a first birthday celebration.

To book a repair, visit: https://tinkd.nz/repair-cafe-tauranga/