Repair Cafe
Bring your household items that need repairing such as: electrical goods, clothing, bicycles, and furniture.
There are Educational Workshops offered by some of our volunteers to help you repair your own items too. Stay tuned for more workshops coming up.
There is a three step process of assessment:
Step 1 – Assess whether an item is repairable;
Step 2 – Identify whether the item can be repaired by the Repair Café
Step 3 – Advise of alternative local repair options if the Repair Café is unable to repair the item
The Eurobodalla Repair Café also provides an opportunity for members of the community to drop in and network with other people, thereby enhancing general well-being and promoting recovery in the wake of the recent bushfires and Covid-19 pandemic.
How do you fix wooden handled tools?
Mr Fix It on ABC Gardening Australia shows us how to fix wooden handled tools or watch the video.
Reducing Waste
The Sydney Morning Herald published an article on 13 June 2021 about “plastic straws and cutlery, lightweight plastic bags and microbeads in cosmetics being among the items that will be banished from NSW from next year under laws to curb the amount of rubbish going into oceans and landfill.
The writing is also on the wall for plastic cups, plates and the heavyweight plastic shopping bags common at Coles and Woolworths, with Environment Minister Matt Kean saying the government plans to phase out all single-use plastics by 2025 to stop 2.7 billion items from becoming litter”. Read more here.
Reduce E-waste by buying refurbished devices
https://www.reebelo.com.au/
Reebelo is an online marketplace for sustainable technology providing access to affordable electronics. They sell refurbished devices such as mobiles. The devices are tested and they have a 14 day return policy. E-waste is one of the fastest growing waste categories on the planet, so by buying second hand you are helping to reduce e-waste and saving yourself money.
The Eurobodalla Repair Cafe Story
Our First Repair Cafe was held on Friday 28 August 2020 at the Red Door Hall, Anglican Parish St John’s Way, Moruya. Since then, it has been held weekly (except for a break over Christmas).
Repair Cafe and SHASA volunteer Valerie Faber said “The Repair Cafe assists in seeing our possessions in a new light and appreciating their value. By repairing household items we extend their life and can save them from landfill and ultimately save money. It also shows people how repairing their broken items can be fun, as well as rewarding, because they will gain valuable practical knowledge that they can use to fix other things around the house.”
“SHASA would like to thank Dave Neyle from the Bega Valley Repair Cafe for his advice and support and also the Repair Cafe Netherlands Foundation which has helped Repair Cafes to get started all over the world. The Eurobodalla Repair Cafe will be the 43rd repair Cafe in Australia ” said Kathryn Maxwell, President, SHASA.
Repair Cafe in Redcliffe, QLD joins Interantional Push for Consumers’ right to repair
ABC News article about our sister Repair Cafe in Redcliffe QLD.
A Case Study: Single Use? – No way with Repair Cafe
When packing for a holiday some months ago, we forgot to include the pepper grinder! So we ducked into a supermarket near the cabin where we were staying and bought a jar of peppercorns with an inbuilt grinder. Months later when the peppercorns were used up we discovered we couldn’t open the jar and replace the peppercorns. It had been made to be single use only but was still in great condition and an excellent grinder.
To the rescue came Moruya’s recently opened Repair Café at the Red Door!! My partner took it around to the gang of skilled lateral thinkers there on a Friday morning and hey presto a way was found to open the jar and replace the peppercorns.
After some discussion the repairers decided to gently heat the plastic top and the expansion allowed the top to turn and open the jar. It was a high risk strategy but without the attempt the grinder would have just been thrown away or at best the glass recycled.
Robyne
What sort of items have been repaired so far?
Sunglasses now like new 
Replaced velcro fastening on sun hat 
Replaced velcro on bag 
Table lamp works again 
Repaired zipper sliders on wilderness tent
Wayne and Rob Rutherford fixing bikes 
Brett Stevenson and Rob Shorrock working on a musical item 
Nick Hopkins happy with his bike repair 
Michael Hitchcock and Noal Annabel repairing electrical items 
Noal Annabel at the electrical repair table
The following gallery shows various other repairs in action. Your repair stories are welcomed too.
