It may be a matter of weeks since Christmas, but the volunteers at Tauranga Repair Café are expecting to be busy fixing broken toys along with the usual household items very soon.

The monthly event aimed at reducing unnecessary rubbish in the landfill is launching for 2024 on the morning of January 27 – and will be open at Tinkd Makerspace.

Volunteer Ian Neal specialises in woodwork but says there are experts in most fields to assess and then attempt to fix items that locals bring along.

He joined the repair team last year – which is part of a global movement to repair, recycle and minimise waste.

What to do

“I had two coffee machines that leaked,” says Ian.

“When the first one broke, I decided to go out and buy another to replace it because it made such great coffee and that started leaking as well.

“I brought them to the café.

'A volunteer fixed the first, showed me what to do and I fixed the second one at home.

"So, my coffee makers are not in the landfill and I started coming along as a volunteer.

Volunteer Matt Smith is a mechanical engineer.

“There’s definitely a feeling of satisfaction and often it’s a surprise because you don’t know what’s broken about it and you have a short amount of time to fix it.

"“It feels good to diagnose the problem, get it fixed and then have the person able to take home their item now working again.”

Matt says education is also an important part of the café.

“Sometimes people just need to know about maintaining something.

They need to know that this a part that’s going to wear out, so they may be able to go online and just buy a part and their appliance will keep going for years and years,” says Matt.

 “A kid’s toy car, for example, might be need a simple fuse connection.

If someone hadn’t known how to fix it, it would’ve been a huge chunk of plastic in the landfill.

We try to prevent that from happening and give things a new life.”

NZ-wide movement

Co-founder of the national organisation Repair Cafe Aotearoa, Brigitte Sistig, is impressed with the success of Tauranga locals.

“The Tauranga Repair Cafe is part of a New Zealand-wide movement that contributes to the reduction of waste, educates about product design and repairability, and builds community resilience,” says Brigitte.

“This is only possible through the dedication of our skilled volunteers who share their expertise and help their communities to extend the lifespan of their belongings.”

The Repair Café will be open 9.30-11.30am on Saturday, January 27, 2024, at Tinkd Makerspace, 148 Durham St, Tauranga To book a repair, go to:  https://tinkd.nz/repair-cafe-tauranga/