The city of Eugene wants to reduce waste by teaching people to fix common household items, like clothes and electrical appliances. The City received $70,000 in grant money to launch the “Repair Café” project.

Stephanie Scafa is an analyst with Eugene’s Waste Prevention and Green Building Program.

Scafa: “A repair café, or a fix-it clinic, is a space that is a free meeting place for people to come and repair common household items.”

Scafa says the cafes will be staffed with professionals and volunteers who can help people restore their old stuff.

Scafa: “This project is going to be exploring really how to use a repair café as a way to reduce trash and extend the useful life of household goods.”

Scafa says half of the $70,000 in grants comes from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, the other half from the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. The City is still ironing out the details, but the hope is to have the first Café pop up this summer.

