The Restart Project, co-founded by Ugo Vallauri and Janet Gunter, is a London-based social enterprise that encourages and empowers people to use their electronics longer, by sharing repair and maintenance skills. Through community and workplace events it creates engaging opportunities to extend the lifespan of electronics and electrical equipment.
And there’s more. Restart is an international movement. It educates people on how to do basic repairs to everyday objects, from digital cameras to kettles. At “Restart Parties” around the world, experts gather to help people who bring along broken items. They do the repairs themselves, while demonstrating what they are doing, to demystify the process.
But, how does a Restart Party work?
The Restart Project’s team set up an online group for people who want to host and organise their own events. They can do it following few simple guidelines like:
- Restart Parties are a collaborative learning process, not a “free repair”.
- Events require a minimum of 3/4 committed repair volunteers – called Restarters.
- One person should be the host – in charge of welcoming participants and organising a “waiting list” with descriptions of the problem and conducting initial troubleshooting.
- Skill-sharing and empowerment are absolutely essential: repairs should be always done together, explaining the steps.
We don’t really need new products. We just need to realize that we are producing too much stuff and that obsolescence and our packed landfills ARE big issues!
More info here.