These are just a few of the items that were saved from being thrown out thanks to Humber Polytechnic's first ever Repair Café that was held over two days in April. A repair café is a community event where people bring broken items from home to be repaired by volunteer fixers.
The goal is to reduce landfill waste, promote reuse and bring awareness to other sustainability initiatives such as the Right to Repair. There were fixers from Humber as well as Repair Café Toronto at the event that was a partnership between the Office of Sustainability, Humber Library, the Idea Lab and Repair Café Toronto.
More than 90 people attended, with most of them being students, as well as staff, faculty and community members. In total, 216 pounds of waste was diverted from landfill thanks to items being fixed.
"At Humber Polytechnic's Repair Café event, we weren't just fixing broken items we were helping build a culture of sustainability, creativity and community spirit," said Gabi Hentschke, sustainability communications and engagement coordinator at Humber. "We fixed gadgets, created memories and proved nothing's too broken when a community comes together and we had a blast doing it."
Hentschke said events like these have many benefits - they strengthen Humber's connection to the broader community, give students hands-on experience and skills while also supporting environmental stewardship and waste reduction. Participants also enhance their problem-solving, critical thinking and leadership skills while collaborating with professionals and peers from diverse fields.
Small appliances and electronics were the largest category of items fixed followed by clothing and jewelry.
The organization Let's Get Together was also onsite at both events to collect used technology donations and e-waste items that couldn't be fixed. In total, 441.8 pounds of electronics were collected.
To learn more about Humber's commitment to sustainability, visit the Office of Sustainability website.
