“Never take broken for an answer,” the popular Ifixit motto, is on full display at the Repair Cafe from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 9 at the Robert Crown Center, 1801 Main St.

So, what’s this all about?

Repair Cafes are free meeting spaces where people fix things together. Besides the obvious money saving, repair cafes have multiple benefits, from keeping stuff out of the landfill, to promoting collaboration, skill-sharing and community self-reliance, as well as supporting Evanston’s Climate Action and Resilience Plan, just to name a few.

If you are curious about this, head down to your basement, closet or storage area and pick that thing that has been there for ages, but which you could not bring yourself to throw away (remember, there is no “away”!).

Once you have chosen your broken item, sign-up for a 30-minute time slot that matches the type or repair you need. To allow for others to participate, bring items belonging only to the category you sign up for. The repair volunteer will try to fix them and/or diagnose and recommend next steps and spare parts.

If you already know what is wrong with your item, feel free to bring any necessary spare parts to maximize the chances of getting it repaired.

These are the repair categories available at this Repair event:

  • GENERAL REPAIR of small appliances and common household items (lamps, toasters, fans, blenders, etc.) Includes GLUING of wood, ceramic and plastic of household items: toys, picture frames, crockery.
  • BASIC SEWING/MENDING on clothing and other textiles. Please wash before bringing item.
  • BASIC JEWELRY REPAIR: restringing, replacing clasps, links. Soldering up to silver.
  • BIKE REPAIR: Slipped chains, loose bolts, stuck seats, handlebars, etc. Simple repairs and tune ups only.
  • ELECTRONICS DIAGNOSTIC: Bring your item to learn what’s wrong with it, what you need to fix it and the difficulty level of the repair.

Co-sponsored with Citizens’ Greener Evanston. We are grateful to the Evanston Repair Cafe volunteers and Wheel & Sprocket for their expertise, time and support.

Every second Saturday of even months. Registration is open only for the upcoming Repair Cafe.

Questions? Email Bea at  becheverria@cityofevanston.org