The BIG FIX 2022
In today’s society, it has become easier than ever to fall into the trap of continuous consumerism.
Buy, use, dispose, repeat.
We have become so used to replacing things when they break with the low price of new items and the low effort of next day delivery. Have you ever stopped to think if there was a better way?
The people of Devon certainly have.
What is THE BIG FIX?
In 2019, a call to action was put out for residents of Devon to counter this throwaway culture.
Over 40 volunteers from Repair Cafés across Devon joined forces for the world’s first ‘THE BIG FIX’. People across Devon brought in their broken household belongings and a record 268 items were fixed in just one day! Preventing all these items from going to waste.
What is a Repair Café?
A Repair Café is a free meeting place where people can bring things to be repaired by volunteers in their local community. This can include things such as clothes, furniture, electricals, bikes and toys. There are over 2,000 Repair Cafés worldwide, with the majority found in Europe. Their aims are often to waste, share skills and create a more sustainable society.
What happened in THE BIG FIX 2020?
In 2020, the project grew its mission to fix over 2000 items in the whole of the UK, still in just one day.
The BIG FIX 2020 saw 66 Repair Cafés across the UK, a total of two thousand people visited their local repair café, and a record 2,253 broken items were fixed at the largest event of its kind.
In Devon alone 11 Repair Cafés took part, and hundreds of volunteers repaired more than 500 items, worth an estimated £10,000, ranging from bikes to clothing and from kitchen appliances to phones.
By having these items repaired instead of buying new, visitors prevented an estimated 55,000kg of carbon emissions nationally and 4,368kg of carbon in Devon!
It has been amazing to watch THE BIG FIX grow from a regional to a national scale and we are excited to do it all over again!
When is THE BIG FIX 2022?
On Saturday 14th May 2022, Repair Cafés from across the UK will once again join in THE BIG FIX 2022. The aim, to repair as many items as possible in just one day.
To find out more about getting involved in THE BIG FIX, including finding out which Repair Cafés are taking part, join our Facebook event page, and follow our Recycle Devon social media pages on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.
What are some of the other benefits of THE BIG FIX?
In the lead up to THE BIG FIX, we will be sharing your repair stories.
Some of the benefits, other than reducing our waste, come from the connection between members of a community. Those involved have told us that felt a sense of achievement as repairers, they learnt and shared skills, made new friends and felt even more connected with their community.
The question is, what will you take away from THE BIG FIX 2022?
