What do you do when your treasured electric toothbrush, space heater, bike, toy robot, or scooter breaks?
“At this point, most people feel like their only choice is to throw it away,” says Fixit Clinic founder Peter Mui.
With the bold intention of shifting our culture’s throw-away mindset, Peter Mui launched the organization Fixit Clinic in 2009. Fixit Clinic imagines an alternative story; instead of that toothbrush or toy robot vanishing into the landfill, they can be revived, phoenix-like, by friends’ and neighbors’ caring hands.
Fixit Clinic helps to organize pop-up events across the country. At these clinics, community members bring in their broken items, and, through collaboration with local volunteer Fixit Coaches, they learn how to disassemble, troubleshoot, and repair their stuff. The idea is to empower participants to learn how to fix their items, themselves (with a little help from some experts, of course).
Fix-It Clinics and Resilience Hubs – a great “match
Why are Fixit Clinics such a great program idea for resilience hubs? They:
- Promote everyday resilience by bringing people together
- Encourage a circular repair and reuse economy
- Divert consumer products from the waste stream (most electronics contain parts that release toxins into the environment when disposed of incorrectly)
- Increase digital equity
In the event of a climate disruption, having a network of skilled fixers to tap into will be an invaluable community asset.
Steal this Idea! Here’s How to Get Started
- Recruit Fixit Coaches
- Have at least five, one of whom knows how to solder, for each event.
- Ask friends, neighbors, and those outside of the community skilled in electronics, woodworking, sewing, etc. If there is a college or university nearby, consider contacting relevant departments that might have eager student volunteers.
- Post on a community email or social media to recruit coaches.
- Contact fixitclinic@gmail.com for official registration of the coaches. Fixit Clinic will tailor all the sign-up forms and waivers to your site.
- Recruit Institutional Partners for Tools, etc.
- Once you have your coaches, look to local waste management, your library district, local government, fraternal service organizations *churches, Lions club, Rotary club* to help provide funds for food, shared tools, adhesives, batteries, etc. They can also be of help with promotion and staffing.
- Select a Venue
- Ideally, use your resilience hub! Libraries are also great (centrally located, open on weekends, good parking, usually near public transport, familiar, public).
- Contact Fixit Clinic to Finalize a Date & List Your Event on the Fixit Clinic Registration Forms
- The weekend, around midday, is generally the best time for people.
- Email: fixitclinic@gmail.com the date of the event/venue
- Make a copy of this document, fill it out, and email it to Fixit Clinic: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1W8rSQdwgkWEigjKgdBUW927l1R4sOBZ1zbL3pz4xK0M/edit?usp=sharing
- Promote
- Social Media, flyers.
- Have Fixit Coaches help out with outreach. Schools often have a robotics or Makers club that you can reach out to.
- Use partnerships with agencies and governments to help promote.
- Set Up the Day of the Fixit Clinic
- Have laptops to register walk-in participants and connect to the Discord: Global Fixers for extra help.
- Arrive early for setup.
- Hold Your Fixit Clinic!
- Once the initial rush of participants settles down, have each person get an assessment of their items from a Fixit Coach, get some tools, and have them start to work on fixing independently while Fixit Coaches float around to help.
- Celebrate every successful repair by ringing a bell!
