In This Economy? You’d Be Wise To Adopt A Do-It-Together Attitude

Reddingakaffi empowers all who come to learn how to repair their things

I arrive at Reddingakaffi (e. Repair Café) with a wet boombox, just one minute after the event begins. At the monthly Reddingakaffi, in Borgarbókasafnið Grófin (the downtown library, next to Hafnarhús), volunteers will help you repair whatever you bring, encouraging a circular economy and waste reduction. As I shake hail out of my hair I’m greeted by two volunteers: Magnús and Jakób.

Magnús, a heavy metal bassist, has been a part of Reddingakaffi basically since it began in 2018. Jakób, on the other hand, has been a part of Reddingakaffi for just a month and is an electrician-in-training. Magnús explains that the volunteering aspect of Reddingakaffi drew him in, while Jakób shares that it’s good practice for school.

As they begin work on my boombox (which has one small problem — when I switch between radio and CD, I have to apply an unreasonable amount of force for it to switch to CD mode), I ask Magnús for some notable repairs he’s encountered over the course of his volunteership. He tells me that his first repair is his most memorable, as it’s the one that started it all. It was an electric shaver. He explains that it had to be fixed over two Reddingakaffi sessions; first, they took it apart and diagnosed the problem, but had to send the owner to buy a new part — with an offer that if they came back with the new part, they’d fix it.

Other than the shaver, he recalls a smoke machine being fun to repair.

Saving All Sorts Of Stuff!

Reddingakaffi started in August 2018, and is co-sponsored by Hringrásarsetur Íslands and Munasafn RVK Tool Library. With these tools and volunteers, their skills are vast and it takes a fair bit to stump them; as I entered the library with my boombox, I saw someone happily wheeling away a bicycle. When I sat down, someone came in with a printer, another followed with bluetooth headphones, and another volunteer, Rósa, was working on a down jacket next to me with her sewing machine.

I chat more with Magnús about the intentions of Reddingakaffi. Both he and Rósa express that these events are not meant for them to just do the repairs for you, but for you to learn — and for them to empower you to repair your own things in the future. While Magnús and Jakób were kind enough to take the wheel with my boombox (as I don’t know the first thing about electronic repair), they also explained everything they were doing.

“I don’t even know what half these things do!” says Magnús, gesturing to the multiple circuit boards of my boombox. “But if it’s about buttons, I can do this.” I feel as though that’s selling himself a bit short, as he’s one of the veteran volunteers and had been explaining the different functions of the complicated boombox innards for the duration of our talk. But his point is fair — even if you don’t understand everything going on in your electronics, you can get to a point of understanding where you can repair on your own.

And, proving that he can do this, I put in the test-CD I brought with me (Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue, saved from 12 Tónar’s basement discount box), easily slid the switch to CD-mode, and dulcet piano fills Borgarbókasafnið.

Do It!

When we opened my boombox, we saw that it is from 2002 – which Magnús immediately characterises as “right at the end of ‘Do-It-Yourself’ repair.” Explaining this, he shows me arrows on the backside of my boombox pointing to where all the screws are. Electronics used to be designed to allow anyone to be able to open them up and repair for themselves, he says, But screws are often hidden in more modern tech, leading many to assume they need years of experience to even consider an at-home fix.

In the face of these changes, Reddingakaffi is attempting to demystify repair and empower you to do it yourself. They just provide the tools.

The next regular Reddingakaffi will be held on Sunday, April 13, from 13:00-16:00. Reddingakaffi will also be hosting a “Repairathon” in April. Follow Munasafn RVK Tool Library on Facebook or go to hringrasarseturislands.org/reddingakaffi. If you have a suggestion for a free activity we should give a try in our ongoing effort to keep entertained in this economy, drop us a line at grapevine@grapevine.is

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