{"id":40717,"date":"2013-07-13T00:09:59","date_gmt":"2013-07-13T07:09:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/?p=40717"},"modified":"2013-07-13T00:09:59","modified_gmt":"2013-07-13T07:09:59","slug":"repair-cafe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/40717","title":{"rendered":"Repair Cafe"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\tSome folks looking at a landfill\u00a0look down their noses.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, I can&#8217;t help but regard &#8220;trash&#8221; and wonder,<\/p>\n<p><i>what if?<\/i><\/p>\n<p>What if all of those legless chairs, busted blenders,<\/p>\n<p>tattered clothes, and dented fenders<\/p>\n<p>had been patched instead of pitched?<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40720\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40720\" class=\"size-full wp-image wp-image-40720 \" alt=\"giving_back-repair_cafe1\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/giving_back-repair_cafe1.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40720\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo by Infrogmation via Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Are you as tired as I am of how toss-away we&#8217;ve become?<\/p>\n<p>Then you&#8217;ll love the idea of a Repair Caf\u00e9.<\/p>\n<p>Launched in Europe a few years ago, this reconstructive revolution is sweeping the globe, rescuing all sorts of useful stuff from death-by-dumpster.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Lots of people have forgotten that they can repair things themselves, or they no longer know how,&#8221; says founder Martine Postma. &#8220;Society doesn\u2019t always show much appreciation for the people who still have this practical knowledge, but the Repair Caf\u00e9 is changing all that.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Repair Caf\u00e9s are free meeting places that are all about repairing things <i>together<\/i>. They furnish tools and materials to repair clothes, furniture, electrical appliances, bicycles, crockery, appliances, toys, and more. Plus, visitors have the opportunity to connect with fix-it specialists who&#8217;ll lend a hand and share their know-how. It\u2019s an ongoing learning process, Postma says, and valuable skills are getting passed from person to person. She believes that the Repair Caf\u00e9 environment teaches people to see possessions in a new light and to appreciate their value.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40728\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40728\" class=\"size-full wp-image wp-image-40728\" alt=\"giving_back-repair_cafe4\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/giving_back-repair_cafe4.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"317\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40728\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos courtesy of Repair Caf\u00e9 Pittsfield, Massachusetts https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Pittsfield-Repair-Cafe\/349694531801567?ref=stream<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_40721\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40721\" class=\"size-full wp-image wp-image-40721  \" alt=\"giving_back-repair_cafe2\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/giving_back-repair_cafe2.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40721\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos courtesy of Repair Caf\u00e9 Pittsfield, Massachusetts https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Pittsfield-Repair-Cafe\/349694531801567?ref=stream<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_40726\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40726\" class=\"size-full wp-image wp-image-40726\" alt=\"giving_back-repair_cafe3\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/giving_back-repair_cafe3.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"270\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40726\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos courtesy of Repair Caf\u00e9 Pittsfield, Massachusetts https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Pittsfield-Repair-Cafe\/349694531801567?ref=stream<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_40732\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40732\" class=\"size-full wp-image wp-image-40732\" alt=\"giving_back-repair_cafe6\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/giving_back-repair_cafe6.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"480\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40732\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos courtesy of Repair Caf\u00e9 Pittsfield, Massachusetts https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Pittsfield-Repair-Cafe\/349694531801567?ref=stream<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_40727\" style=\"width: 370px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-40727\" class=\"size-full wp-image wp-image-40727\" alt=\"giving_back-repair_cafe5\" src=\"http:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/giving_back-repair_cafe5.jpg\" width=\"360\" height=\"482\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-40727\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photos courtesy of Repair Caf\u00e9 Pittsfield, Massachusetts https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/pages\/Pittsfield-Repair-Cafe\/349694531801567?ref=stream<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Currently, there are only five Repair Caf\u00e9s in the U.S. (see the list <a href=\"http:\/\/repaircafe.org\/repair-cafes-around-the-world\/\">here<\/a>).<\/p>\n<p>If there isn&#8217;t one near you, it might just be time to <a href=\"http:\/\/repaircafe.org\/start-a-repair-cafe\/\">start your own<\/a>. The Repair Caf\u00e9 Foundation supports start-ups with a comprehensive manual and promotional materials to help you spread the word.<\/p>\n<p>With a smidgen of elbow grease, you&#8217;ll be on your way to enhancing your community with a Repair Caf\u00e9. Wish I had the time. I LOVE this idea.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;\t\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Some folks looking at a landfill\u00a0look down their noses. Yet, I can&#8217;t help but regard &#8220;trash&#8221; and wonder, what if? What if all of those legless chairs, busted blenders, tattered clothes, and dented fenders had been patched instead of pitched? &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/40717\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/40717\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-40717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-giving_back"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40717\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.raisingjane.org\/journal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}