When something breaks, it can feel easier to just buy another one.
We’ve been sold the idea that replacing instead of fixing is faster, but is it really?
Take that big red wheelie travel bag you bought five years ago. For everything from family holidays to transporting bulky ski gear, it’s served you well. It’s got wheels and a retractable handle for pulling, but it’s got a shoulder strap too. It’s roomy, it has pockets in all the right places and yet it doesn’t weigh a tonne. And you can spot it a mile off on a baggage carousel.
It took you ages to find this model and it is exactly what you needed. But now the zip is bust, so what do you do?
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Finding the same thing means scrolling through endless options to decipher features and check measurements. You eventually find one, except it’s €20 more expensive. Then you realise the provider won’t deliver to you, or that delivery adds €10, or you have to set up a notification for when it’s back in stock.
Next is the endless string of correspondence about delivery: the warehouse has received your order; your order is being processed; your order is with the courier, it’s in transit; it’s awaiting delivery; would you like to manage your delivery?
Eventually the bag arrives, via a neighbour. It’s just not quite as good as your old one, though. It’s too much hassle to return it.
This is where RepairMyStuff.ie comes in. This online directory, supported by local authorities, connects people with local repair businesses, making it easy to find someone to fix everything from a watch to a computer, a lawnmower to a TV, a guitar to a handbag.
Extending the life of a product, instead of buying a new one, makes a real contribution to decreasing the over-consumption of valuable natural resources.
[ The rise of repair cafes: ‘It’s not sustainable to keep buying new stuff’Opens in new window ]
Each person in Ireland produces 586kgs of waste annually – the sixth-highest in the EU, according to the Central Statistics Office.
Growth in the Irish economy has led to a large increase in electrical and electronic waste, peaking in 2021 when more 71,000 tonnes were collected, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The manufacture and distribution of a product is often the most environmentally damaging part, so by repairing, you are doing your bit for the planet – and your shopping sanity.
By facilitating people to repair rather than replace things, RepairMyStuff.ie helps reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills and oceans, preserving our planet for future generations. It’s also a great way to support local small businesses.
Repairing products can make financial sense too. A typical washing machine, for instance, costs €300-€400. Within five to 10 years of purchase, something will almost inevitably break. If getting it repaired costs less than €150, 50 per cent less than a new one, then repairing your washing machine makes perfect sense. Once fixed, it should then give you many more years of service.
Hit TV shows like the BBC’s Repair Shop and an explosion of repair cafes demonstrate how repairing is catching on. New EU right to repair laws also mean consumers will soon have extended rights to have broken products such as smartphones repaired by manufacturers rather than dumping and replacing them.
The law will oblige manufacturers to repair certain products, even if they fall outside of the scope of a legal guarantee. They would have to carry parts and make repairs at a reasonable cost.
In the case of my red bag, a repair shop found on RepairMyStuff.ie replaced the zip for €20. I should get another five years out of it.
