Author: Kaylee Craig

Imagine if we didn’t need to throw away what seemed beyond repair. Imagine if we had a repairable culture instead of a throwaway culture in the U.S. The possibilities for Green Tech are endless, and it all starts with our relationship to objects.

For our first Green Tech piece, we are discussing a recent article, The country rejecting throwaway culture, published by BBC on January 28, 2021 and its relevance to rethinking our relationship to objects we purchase. While this discussion isn’t about “Green Tech” in the traditional sense, it is about the policy and consumer shift that needs to happen in the United States to continue the movement of sustainability in tech. When we think of tech, the first visual that we think of is that of electronics, phones, computers, etc. Technology encompasses more than we might think, however. Technology is a broad term that describes the skills, knowledge, and processes we utilize to create tools and services for our everyday lives. It can be argued that repair fits into this term through utilizing the same knowledge and skills required for an original product to give new life and convenience in the product’s life cycle. Giving legitimacy to repair and rethinking the life cycle of objects mobilizes an informed and sustainable approach to the creation of new technology that will be valued instead of discarded.

Let’s imagine if we didn’t need to throw away what seemed beyond repair. Imagine if we had a repairable culture instead of a throwaway culture in the U.S. What would that even look like? 

Europe continues to illuminate this culture through the hundreds of fix-it workshops that occur across the continent. Most recently, France’s National Assembly introduced an index of “repairability” ratings for appliances, the first of its kind globally. The French government hopes to increase their repair rate for appliances and electronics from 40% to 60% by 2026. According to the article, “Those rules came into force in January and require manufacturers to display ratings – similar to the energy ratings system already widely in place – that are calculated using five measures: ease of repairability, price of spare parts, availability of spare parts, availability of repair documentation and a final measure that will vary depending on the type of device. After the first year, a fine of up to €15,000 (£13,300/$18,200) will be given to producers, distributors and sellers who don’t comply. The bill also includes a ‘durability’ index from 2024 that will have new criteria such as product reliability and robustness.” 

To put this further into perspective, “Analysis by the European Environmental Bureau (EEB), a network of environmental citizens’ organisations in Europe, found that extending the lifetime of all washing machines, notebooks, vacuum cleaners and smartphones in the EU by one year would save four million tonnes of carbon dioxide annually by 2030 – the equivalent of taking two million cars off the roads each year.” By holding producers, distributors, and sellers accountable for the waste decisions they force upon their consumers, healthy competition will occur that will stimulate the economy and foster a circular economy that benefits the planet. France’s example, which you can read more about at the link above, reminds me of the resilience communities have had in the United States against the power of our throwaway culture. Much like the European repair cafes that started in Amsterdam in 2009, cities and towns across our country have met the need for repair cafes.

Here in Chicago, there is the Chicago Tool Library and Community Glue. Chicago Tool Library is not a repair cafe per se, but they do provide access to building and repair for communities and individuals without the tools. Launched in 2019, it is a tool lending library that took inspiration from the ones started in Ohio, Washington, and California in 1976. Chicago Tool Library joined the 200 other tool libraries providing resources and tools to communities around the world. Community Glue is a repair cafe that has held fix-it clinics around Chicago since 2012. They welcome all beyond-repairs, torn fabrics, and any other thing that you can’t fix on your own. As of January 2019, there are 75 repair cafes in the United States and that number is growing. We have a long way to go in tackling the challenges we face around our valuing of objects, the consequences of convenience, and the waste that continues to accumulate. However, the buzz around circular economies and repair cafes/tool libraries brings hope and innovation that is here to stay.