Volunteers bring broken objects back to life at the Long Beach Fixit Clinic.
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Courtesy Long Beach Energy and Environmental Services Department
)
Topline:
Long Beach says that in two years, its “Fixit” clinics have diverted nearly 3,000 pounds of waste from landfills.
Why it matters: As landfills fill up, reusing items is one way to slow down the flow of waste.
Why now: The Long Beach Fixit Clinic is scheduled for Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Sports Basement, 2100 N. Bellflower Blvd., Long Beach. Other Fixit events are scheduled for other parts of L.A. County.
The backstory: Organizers say the added benefit is the conversations between people sharing knowledge about how things work and creating a “fix-it” culture.
What's next: There’s a “right to repair” movement that’s pushing corporations to make it easier to repair their products.
In the past two years, Long Beach has held seven ‘Fixit’ clinics, where residents can bring things like toys, clothes, bicycles or small appliances to volunteers to be repaired.
The city says 3,000 pounds of waste has been kept out of landfills. It's a big victory, but that’s not the only reason the events are held.
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Long Beach says its ‘Fixit’ clinics have diverted about 3,000 pounds of waste from landfills
“ This Fixit clinic really empowers people and shows them that … you do have the ability to fix things and not trash them,” said Dalia Gonzalez, spokesperson from the Long Beach Energy and Environmental Services Department.
She says that happens when volunteer fixers explain to people how their object works.
“If it's able to be repaired or not, they go home with some knowledge of what may be the problem or what part they need in order to then, maybe next time, come back and fix it,” Gonzalez said.
Long Beach says its Fixit Clinics have diverted nearly 3,000 pounds of waste from landfills.
(
Courtesy Long Beach Energy and Environmental Services Department
)
The event is scheduled for Saturday from noon to 3 p.m. at Sports Basement, a retail store at 2100 N. Bellflower Blvd. in Long Beach. This public event and others are part of a growing movement to counter the conventional idea that the best way to deal with a broken product is to throw it away and buy a new one.
What you can bring
Here's a list of what volunteers can help you fix:
Electronics
Bicycles
Jewelry
Toys
Clothes
Small appliances
Anything else small enough to carry into the event
Cell phones, any item with a screen and large appliances will be turned away, say organizers — so leave your broken refrigerator in the garage.
Inspiration from expert tinkerers
The volunteers have a wide range of backgrounds. Some know a lot about how mechanical and electronic things work; others simply have a knack for tinkering.
But many times, it’s their problem-solving skills that get the job done.
Like Koby Skye, who’s volunteered at a couple of the Long Beach clinics and plans to help this Saturday.
"I'm not an expert in any of these things,” he said, adding that he'd recently helped a woman who'd brought in a clock that had been in her family for 80 years.
Fixit clinics are taking place all over the country and are part of a movement to reduce waste to landfills.
(
Courtesy Long Beach Energy and Environmental Services Department
)
“ I opened it up, cleaned up some dust and made some adjustments and got it working again,” he said.
Being unafraid to look at something and try to figure out what’s wrong, he said, is one of the best things he can give someone who attends a clinic.
“The delight in seeing that kind of item being repaired again and brought back to life and functioning is really nice,” he said.
The Long Beach clinic isn’t the only one coming up in Southern California. The nonprofit Los Angeles Fixit Clinic lists an Oct. 18 event in Valencia and a Dec. 12 event in Rosemead. The group has a Facebook page and an Instagram account.
