Introduction
p. 2“Convenience decides everything”: Evan Williams, cofounder of Twitter, quoted in Tim Wu, “The Tyranny of Convenience,” New York Times, February 18, 2018.
p. 2one of the greatest sources of human enjoyment: Edith Hall, Aristotle’s Way, p. 27, 33, and Nicomachean Ethics 10.7. I am grateful to Christopher C. Raymond, assistant professor of philosophy at Vassar College for his perspective on Aristotle’s view of how knowledge contributes to well-being.
p. 2“All over the world, people are pooling their resources”: Northeast Recycling Council newsletter, “Repair Cafés — Is There One in Your Neighborhood?” February 18, 2014, nerc.org/news-and-updates/blog/nerc-blog/2014/02/18/repair-caf%C3%A9sis-there-one-in-your-neighborhood.
p. 3“The idea is exquisitely simple”: NBC Sunday Today, “Repairing Things, Restoring Hearts,” April 16, 2017.
p. 4“In Europe, we throw out so many things”: Martine Postma, quoted in Sally McGrane, “An Effort to Bury a Throwaway Culture One Repair at a Time,” New York Times, May 8, 2012.
p. 5The Dutch Ministry of the Environment decided to fund: Information about the formative days of the Repair Café Foundation are from an interview with Martine Postma and Judy Sijlbing recorded and transcribed by JW, Amsterdam, Holland, July 10, 2018.
p. 5The idea is eminently replicable: Information about the first four Repair Cafes in the United States is from organizational records provided by Repair Café Foundation International.
p. 11which, according to the calculation method used by a British researcher: “One Repair Can Prevent 24 Kilos of CO2 Emissions” [in Dutch], Repair Café International Foundation website, January 21, 2019, https://repaircafe.org/een-reparatie-kan-24-kilo-co2-uitstoot-voorkomen.
p. 12“The value of the Repair Cafe”: William McDonough, “New York Times Features ‘Repair Cafe’ in the Netherlands, inspired by Cradle to Cradle,” William McDonough + Partners website, May 31, 2012, https://mcdonoughpartners.com/new-york-times-features-repair-cafe-in-the-netherlands-inspired-by-cradle-to-cradle.
p. 12“It’s very much a sign of the times”: Evelien H. Tonkens, quoted in Sally McGrane, “An Effort to Bury a Throwaway Culture One Repair at a Time,” New York Times, May 8, 2012.
p. 13“see their own community in the midst of cooperation”: The “signal we send” statement was written by John Wackman and Martine Postma, inspired, in part, by an editorial printed in the New Paltz Times on January 29, 2015, written by Paul Brown titled “Repairing New Paltz.” In the editorial, Paul referred to “a basic lack of problem-solving and decision-making skills” on the part of the town and village’s elected officials. Of his experience attending his local Repair Cafe, he wrote: “Although I was of course thrilled that the vacuum cleaner was repaired, that success turned out to be just a small part of what made the experience so much fun. Equally important was the sense of community spirit, the camaraderie and the laughter. And in the midst of all this cooperation, conviviality and downright decency, goals were achieved and positive outcomes realized.” Paul Brown, “Repairing New Paltz,” Hudson Valley One, February 4, 2015, https://hudsonvalleyone.com/2015/02/04/repairing-new-paltz.
p. 16“Economic development has created persistent assaults on the global ecosystem”: Susan Strasser, Waste and Want, p. 16.
p. 16“Ours is not the task of fixing the entire world all at once”: Clarissa Pinkola Estés, “Letter to a Young Activist in Troubled Times,” Resilience Circles, March 10, 2011, https://localcircles.org/2011/03/10/letter-to-a-young-activist-during-troubled-times-by-clarissa-pinkola-estes.
Chapter 1: The Community Repair Experience
p. 19The museum, housed in a home built in 1907: The Museum of American Heritage, www.moah.org.
p. 27“I explained to the mother what I did and why”: Bob Berkowitz, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 27Winterling got an education one morning: Ken Winterling, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 27“Sometimes the challenge is not how to fix an item”: Naomi Aubain, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 28Charles Goedeke, a retired electrical engineer and organizer of a Repair Cafe: Charles Goedeke, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 30“Last week my paper shredder refused”: Robin Romeo, written in a Facebook comment following her visit to the Repair Cafe in New Paltz, New York, in July 2019.
p. 30“I always tell people when they get a sewing machine”: Jackie Carter, quoted in the Moscow, Idaho, Daily News, October 15, 2018.
p. 31Mario Fernandez, one of the organization’s outreach workers, told Rich: Elizabeth was present at two of the three bike deliveries accepted by Mario between May and September 2017–2019 and recalls this story.
p. 32fondly remembers “hanging out under my family’s dining room table”: Michele S., written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 32“Our boys never complain about going to the RC”: Raheli Harper, recorded and transcribed interview with EK, text confirmed by Raheli via email, June 27, 2019.
p. 33“The Repair Cafe is one part of why I moved my family”: Regina Shaw, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 34A boy who wanted to fix a part on his game console: Tom Treat, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 34“My youngest son is on the autism spectrum”: Colleen M. Johnston, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 36“I love to experience the singular joy of repairing”: Steve Carras, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 36“My definition of local is planet Earth”: Heidi Spinella, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 36Back during Warwick’s very first Repair Cafe: Edwin Winstanley, as recalled by EK in a follow-up report emailed to RC volunteers, including Winstanley, December 9, 2016.
p. 39“More than once a parent has come in”: Dära Salk, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 39he uses the same management skills as a volunteer: Dan Barkevich, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 40As a kid, he learned to sew patches on his Cub Scout uniform: Jonathan Ment, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 40“Everything that comes in here has had a life”: Cathe’ Linton, as recalled by EK in a follow-up report emailed to RC volunteers, including Linton, July 17, 2017.
p. 41an older woman rushes in, clutching a braided silver chain: Susanne O’Brien, as recalled by EK in a follow-up report emailed to RC volunteers, including O’Brien, December 9, 2016.
p. 41“Once, a young woman presented me with a bracelet”: Barbara Lane, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 41“When I fix something for someone, even just a lamp”: Larry James, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 42On a Wednesday evening at the Fixers Collective: Vincent Lai, Emily Forman, Joe Holdner, and David Kline, Fixers Collective, Brooklyn, New York. From a conversation recorded by JW at Brooklyn Commons on April 4, 2019.
p. 43“It’s nice to know that with the news”: Ethan Bele, as recalled by EK, September 16, 2017.
Chapter 2: The Road to Sustainability
p. 45“Every decently-made object”: Kevin McCloud, 43 Principles of Home, Principle 30. The quote accompanies the “Materials Science” exhibition at the Chicago Public Library, which is where I found it.
p. 45In southwestern Pennsylvania, an archeological site called Meadowcroft Rockshelter: Information collected by JW during visit to the site on June 1, 2019.
p. 45“We cannot exist without tools”: Lucy Johnson, professor emeritus, Department of Anthropology, Vassar College, from her course syllabus for “Tools and Human Behavior.” Used with author’s permission.
p. 46Archeologists have found “drilled holes on each side of a crack”: Stanley South, “Archeological Evidence of Pottery Repairing.”
p. 46“to drill the nation’s first commercial oil well”: American Oil and Gas Historical Society website, AOGHS.org editors, “First American Oil Well.” Also, Bud Pelaghi, historian of the Venango Museum of Art, Science & Industry, Oil City, Pennsylvania, phone interview with JW, October 19, 2019.
p. 47In 1733, Ben Franklin published the first edition: “Poor Richard’s Almanack,” Ben Franklin Historical Society website, www.benjamin-franklin-history.org/poor-richards-almanac.
p. 47“Herein lies one of the strangest of American beliefs”: Eric Sloane, Return to Taos, 36.
p. 48“It is easy to see that a greater self-reliance”: Ralph Waldo Emerson, Essays, Poems, Addresses, 138.
p. 48“There is a close intellectual lineage”: Andrew L Yarrow, Thrift: The History of an American Cultural Movement, p. 160. Yarrow’s chapter “From Thrift to Sustainability” offers a full and insightful analysis of that lineage.
p. 48“All repairing must be done by hand”: Susan Strasser, Waste and Want, p. 10. Strasser cites her source: Charles Godfrey Leland, A Manual of Mending and Repairing, with Diagrams, published in New York by Dodd, Mead in 1896.
p. 49“University of the Wilderness”: John Muir, The Story of My Boyhood and Youth, p. 287.
p. 50“When we try to pick out anything by itself”: John Muir, My First Summer in the Sierra, p. 110. See also sierraclub.org, “The John Muir Exhibit,” which points out how often Muir’s words have been paraphrased and misquoted.
p. 50Aldo Leopold entered the University of Wisconsin: The Aldo Leopold Foundation website, aldoleopold.org.
p. 50“All ethics so far evolved rest upon a single premise”: Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, p. 203.
p. 50“man-made changes are of a different order”: Aldo Leopold, A Sand County Almanac, p. 218.
p. 51“People everywhere are today disobeying the law of obsolescence”: Bernard London, “Ending the Depression through Planned Obsolescence” [pamphlet], Hathi Trust Digital Library, https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=wu.89097035273&view=1up&seq=9#.
p. 51“Though the policy was not implemented at that time”: Giles Slade, Made to Break, 81.
p. 52“Why is it prohibited?” asked the Savage: Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, p. 262.
p. 52by 1943, about one-third of all the vegetables: Stuart A. Kallen, The War at Home, pp. 43–44.
p. 52“Eat what you can, and can what you can’t”: William L. O’Neill, A Democracy at War, p. 137.
p. 53“The American economy’s ultimate purpose is to produce”: Raymond Saulnier, chairman of President Eisenhower’s Council of Economic Advisors, January 27, 1959, Congressional Hearing before the Joint Economic Committee.
p. 53In 1863, in their home in Sterling: “Butterick History,” Butterick-McCall website, n.d., butterick.mccall.com/our-company/butterick-history.
p. 54Popular Mechanics began publishing in 1902: Popular Mechanics website, https://www.popularmechanics.com/about/a45/about-us.
p. 54Frank Szenher, a Repair Cafe volunteer: Frank Szenher, written account emailed to JW, March 11, 2018.
p. 55“We are as gods and might as well get good at it”: Stewart Brand, The Whole Earth Catalog, Statement of Purpose, p. 2.
p. 55“The Whole Earth Catalog was one of the bibles”: Steve Jobs, Stanford University commencement speech, June 12, 2005. Text on the Stanford University website, https://news.stanford.edu/2005/06/14/jobs-061505.
p. 55For a twenty-first-century version of The Whole Earth Catalog, see “Cool Tools: A Catalog of Possibilities” created by Kevin Kelly, cool-tools.org.
p. 56“This would be my biggest, scariest project by far”: Andrew Willner, written account emailed to JW, August 21, 2019.
p. 57social psychologists try to track how changes: E.J. Milner-Gulland, “Interactions between Human Behaviour and Ecological Systems,” Philosophical Transactions/Royal Publishing Society, cited in PubMed Central, U.S. Library of Medicine, January 19, 2012, https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3223800.
p. 57The American public has generally balanced protection: Jeffrey M. Jones, “Americans’ Identification as Environmentalists Down to 42%,” Gallup, April 22, 2016, https://news.gallup.com/poll/190916/americans-identification-environmentalists-down.aspx.
p. 57“With the possible exception of China”: Andrew Yarrow, Thrift, p. 136.
p. 58the desire to own something a little newer: Brooks Stevens, quoted in Giles Slade, Made to Break, p. 153.
p. 58the volume of waste generated in the United States rose five times faster: Beth Porter, Reduce, Reuse, Reimagine, p. 25.
p. 58sustainability is the subject of a broad debate or “discourse”: John Dryzek, The Politics of the Earth, p. 7–8. “A discourse is a shared way of apprehending the world.”
p. 58“the sustainable society envisioned by so many”: Jeremy L. Caradonna, Sustainability: A History, p. 254.
p. 59“It smelled like a septic tank”: Tim Folger, “The Cuyahoga River Caught Fire 50 Years Ago. It Inspired a Movement,” National Geographic, June 21, 2019.
p. 59“Build an extraordinary boat and people would come”: Betsy Garthwaite, “Restoring Clearwater,” Wooden Boat, p. 3.
p. 60“Sailing down my dirty stream”: words and music by Pete Seeger, first recorded on God Bless the Grass, Smithsonian Folkways Recordings, 1964. Lyrics have been quoted in many publications, including David Schuyler, Embattled River, p. 57.
p. 60“If towns up and down the river start putting in waterfront parks”: Pete Seeger, quoted in David Schuyler, Embattled River, p. 60.
p. 61“The great privilege of the Americans is to be able to have repairable mistakes”: Alexis de Tocqueville, Democracy in America, vol. 1, part 2, chap. 6, p. 222.
p. 61the recycling industry has largely been an export business: Katherine Wei, “Plastic Waste Piles Up as China’s Ban Goes into Effect,” Sierra, February 3, 2018, sierraclub.org/sierra/plastic-waste-piles-china-s-ban-goes-effect.
p. 61the results of a social marketing study conducted at Boston University: Shankar Vedantam, “Why Recycling Options Lead People to Waste More,” Hidden Brain, NPR, June 2, 2017, www.npr.org/2017/06/02/531173499/why-recycling-options-lead-people-to-waste-more.
p. 61The conference title was “Keeping Cool”: Conference materials for the twenty-eighth annual NYS Recycling Conference, “Keeping Cool in an Age of Climate Change: Impacts of Materials Management,” New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, Cooperstown, New York, November 7–9, 2017.
p. 62Five years earlier, China had instituted its Green Fence rules: Brad Plumer, “China Doesn’t Even Want to Buy Our Garbage Anymore,” May 9, 2013, www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/05/09/chinas-crackdown-on-trash-could-make-it-harder-for-u-s-cities-to-recycle.
p. 62“There was a lot of uncertainty in the room”: Dan Lilkas-Rain, transcribed telephone interview with JW, March 18, 2019.
p. 62“We are in a crisis moment in the recycling movement”: Fiona Ma, quoted in “As Costs Surge, Cities’ Recycling Becomes Refuse,” Michael Corkery, New York Times, March 17, 2019.
p. 62The Chinese standard has proven to be impossible: Rob Cole, “Increased China 0.5 Per Cent Contamination Limit a ‘Very Challenging Target,’” Resource.com, November 21, 2017, resource.co/article/increased-china-05-cent-contamination-limit-very-challenging-target-12253.
p. 62“I think the Chinese have done us a tremendous favor”: Neil Seldman, recorded and transcribed telephone interview with JW, May 23, 2019.
p. 63To prove his point, Seldman offers this analysis: Neil Seldman, email to JW, October 21, 2019.
p. 63The operation realizes a “quadruple bottom line”: Saint Vincent de Paul Society of Lane County (Oregon) website, svdp.us.
p. 64“Almost every municipality has an environmental street”: “Competition for circular craft centers,” Repair Café Foundation website, April 30, 2019.
p. 65The Post Landfill Action Network (PLAN) was started: www.postlandfill.org. Telephone and email exchange with Alex Freid, organization founder and codirector, December 15–16, 2019.
p. 66“consumption time bomb” and “material intensity”: The World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey & Company, Towards the Circular Economy, vol. 2, Opportunities for the Consumer Goods Sector.
p. 66the Institute of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences at Rutgers: Stephen Leahy, “Hidden Costs of Climate Change Running Hundreds of Billions a Year,” National Geographic, September 27, 2017, www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2017/09/climate-change-costs-us-economy-billions-report/#close.
p. 66More than a hundred years ago, British economists recognized: Sarah Gonzalez, “Decades Ago, British Economist Created the Framework for a Carbon Tax,” NPR Morning Edition “Planet Money,” November 7, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/11/07/777133401/decades-ago-british-economist-created-the-framework-for-a-carbon-tax.
p. 67We just haven’t chosen to use them: See Mariana Mazzucato, The Value of Everything, p. 132. “Consider a river polluted by industrial waste. When the polluter pays to clean it up, the expenditure is treated as a cost which reduces profits and GDP. But when the government pays another company to clean up the river, the expenditure adds to GDP because paying workers adds value. If the cost of cleaning up pollution is borne by someone other than the polluter it is called an externality — the cost is ‘outside’ the polluter’s profit-and-loss account — and increases GDP. Simon Kuznets argues that such a calculation should be balanced by the ‘dis-service’ that has been created by the pollution, and therefore that the cost of that ‘dis-service’ be taken out of the ‘net’ calculation of value added. But national accounts do not do that: instead they state that it is not ‘appropriate’ or ‘analytically useful’ for ‘economic accounts to try to correct for presumed institutional failures of this kind by attributing costs to producers that society does not choose to recognize.”
p. 67what biologist Garrett Hardin described as the “tragedy of the commons”: Garrett Hardin, “The Tragedy of the Commons,” Science 162 (no. 3859), 1243–1248.
p. 67“We need to decouple growth from environmental impact”: Paul Polman, quoted in David Gelles, “To Drive Change, Look Past the Bottom Line,” New York Times, September 1, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/business/paul-polman-unilever-corner-office.html.
p. 68“meeting the needs of the current generation”: United Nations, “Our Common Future,” chapter 2, “Towards Sustainable Development,” conclusion (no page number), http://www.un-documents.net/ocf-02.htm#I.
p. 68It must also be a “just transition”: Among many resources, see Movement Generation website, Justice and Ecology Project, https://movementgeneration.org/about/our-theory-of-change.
p. 68The economic model that is gaining the most momentum: Kirsi Sormunen and Kimmo Tiilikainen, “The Circular Economy Enters the World Stage,” The Guardian, June 6, 2017, www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2017/jun/06/the-circular-economy-enters-the-world-stage-with-finland-leading-the-way.
p. 68“What is the entire system”: William McDonough and Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle, p. 82.
p. 68The 2014 report estimated the economic benefits: The World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey & Company, Towards the Circular Economy, vol. 3, Accelerating the Scale-up across Global Supply Chains, report summary, January 24, 2014, www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications/towards-the-circular-economy-vol-3-accelerating-the-scale-up-acrossglobal-supply-chains.
p. 69The foundation’s 2019 follow-up report: The World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey & Company, Completing the Picture: How the Circular Economy Tackles Climate Change, September 2019, p. 12.
p. 70“Re-thinking how we manufacture industrial products”: International Resource Panel, Re-defining Value: The Manufacturing Revolution, www.resourcepanel.org/reports/re-defining-value-manufacturing-revolution.
p. 70“A 2019 survey of U.S. business leaders”: Article posted by ING Wholesale Banking, “How Circular Thinking Could Change U.S. Business Models” January 2020. www.ingwb.com/themes/americas-here-i-come-articles/how-circular-thinking-could-change-us-business-models. The full survey is available for download at this site.
p. 70“We do not know how the shift will come about”: The World Economic Forum, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, and McKinsey & Company, Towards the Circular Economy, vol. 1, An Economic and Business Rationale for an Accelerated Transition, executive summary, p. 11.
p. 70“It’s hard work. The road to change has a lot of skeptics”: Paul Polman, quoted in David Gelles, “To Drive Change, Look Past the Bottom Line,” New York Times, September 1, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/08/29/business/paul-polman-unilever-corner-office.html. After stepping down from Unilever in 2018, Polman started Imagine, a consulting firm focused on environment and social responsibility (“Unleashing business to achieve our global goals”), https://imagine.one.
p. 71the typical electric drill is used for only twelve to thirteen minutes: Rachel Botsman, “The Case for Collaborative Consumption,” TED Talk, December 2010. See also Rachel Botsman, “The Currency of the New Economy Is Trust,” TED Talk, September 2012.
p. 72“What if all the effort spent on recycling over the last fifty years”: Joel Newman, “How Many R’s Is Enough?,” Repair Reflections blog post on Portland Repair Finder website, May 28, 2019, www.portlandrepairfinder.com/how-many-rs-is-enough.
p. 72The Manhattan Solid Waste Advisory Board and the Citizens Committee for New York City: CitizensNYC.org, “Grantee Projects,” 2019, www.citizensnyc.org/grantee-projects.
p. 72New York State made it a priority to significantly decrease: NY State Department of Environmental Conservation, Division of Materials Management Solid Waste Plan Stakeholder Meeting, New Paltz, New York, February 28, 2019. Subsequent email correspondence with DEC staff, December 8–9, 2019.
p. 73“Repair economies don’t regard material things as expendable”: Katherine Wilson, “A ‘Repair Economy’ Might Fix More than Just Stuff — It Could Fix Us as Well,” World Economic Forum website, June 18, 2019, www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/mending-hearts-how-a-repair-economy-creates-a-kinder-more-caring-community.
Chapter 3: The Wisdom of Repair
p. 75The Oxford English Dictionary takes the position that it is “impossible to attempt a complete record”: OED, cited in “re-,” Online Etymology Dictionary, www.etymonline.com/word/re-.
p. 76“Sorry,” says Merriam-Webster, “it’s too late to fix this problem”: “A Tale of Two ‘Repairs,’” Word History blog, Merriam-Webster website, www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/a-tale-of-two-repairs.
p. 77“My experience of the world is that things left to themselves don’t get right”: Thomas Henry Huxley, Science and Education, p. 439.
p. 78“Is it the imaginary nineteenth-century world”: Steven J. Jackson, “Rethinking Repair,” chapter 11 in Media Technologies, p. 221.
p. 78“deep wonder and appreciation of the subtle arts of repair”: Steven Jackson, “Rethinking Repair,” in Media Technologies, p. 222.
p. 78“Repair is a radical act of resistance to the unmaking of our environment”: These sentences are based on and build upon a portion of exhibition text written by Kate Irvin from Repair and Design Futures at the RISD Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, October 5, 2018–June 30, 2019. Kate Irvin, exhibition curator. Her text reads: “Repair, a humble act born of necessity, expresses resistance to the unmaking of our world and the environment.” Used by permission.
p. 81“an impulsive habit of material problem solving”: Katherine Wilson, Tinkering, p. 5.
p. 81“this ineffable thing called tinkering”: Katherine Wilson, Tinkering, p. 1.
p. 81“Despite its fascination with things and bits”: David Pescovitz, BoingBoing blogpost, “Alex Pang on Tinkering,” May 29, 2009, https://boingboing.net/2009/05/29/alex-pang-on-tinkeri.html.
p. 81“Tinkering offers a way”: Alex Pang, quoted in BoingBoing blog post, “Alex Pang on Tinkering.”
p. 82“It’s the ability to look at things maybe two degrees off-center”: Tom Joscelyn, interview recorded and transcribed by JW, August 8, 2018.
p. 82“Hey Dad, you want to tinker?”: Erik Hoover, interview recorded and transcribed by JW, September 19, 2019.
p. 83Maintenance engineers offer a cost-benefit analysis they call the “iceberg model”: John Grant, “Maintenance — The Tip of the Iceberg,” Festival of Maintenance website, June 18, 2019, https://festivalofmaintenance.org.uk/2019/06/18/maintenance-the-tip-of-the-iceberg.
p. 84Festival of Maintenance is “a celebration of those who maintain different parts of our world”: Festival of Maintenance website, www.festivalofmaintenance.org.uk/about-us.
p. 84“In rich countries, as far as domestic equipment is concerned…repair no longer exists”: David Edgerton, The Shock of the Old, p. 81.
p. 84“We’ve been inspired by different practices elsewhere in the world”: Ugo Valauri, transcribed by JW from the video “Our Story, Our Community” on the Restart Project website, https://therestartproject.org/about.
p. 86“We live in a world of things”: Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers, p. 59.
p. 86“Beauty can be coaxed out of ugliness”: Leonard Koren, Wabi-Sabi for Artists, p. 51.
p. 86“The good things of the past were not so often articles”: Eric Sloane, Diary of an Early American Boy, 1805, p. viii.
p. 87events they call “The Timeless Art of Repair”: Also on display are “make-do’s” from Locust Lawn’s collection — everyday objects that have been ingeniously repaired — a broken porcelain dish reassembled with staples, for example. Once considered “orphans” of the antiques world, they are now collectible. See interior designer Andrew Baseman’s blog “Past Imperfect: The Art of Inventive Repair.”
p. 87“It should be more than just about making”: Alexander Langlands, Craeft, pp. 339–40.
p. 88“there’s a critical link between symptoms of depression and key areas of the brain”: Kelly Lambert, Lifting Depression, pp. 6–7.
p. 88Britain’s Health Ministry, in response to statistics: Chris Smyth, “Doctors Urged to Offer More Gardening Courses and Fewer Pills,” Sunday Times, July 23, 2018, www.thetimes.co.uk/article/doctors-urged-to-offer-more-gardening-courses-and-fewer-pills-to-treat-mental-health-problems-pn20xdjdz.
p. 88Men’s Sheds is a prime example: “What Is a Men’s Shed?” Men’s Sheds Association website, https://menssheds.org.uk/about/what-is-a-mens-shed.
p. 88“a hand-eye-head-heart-body coordination”: Alexander Langlands, Craeft, p. 22.
p. 89“It simply implies there is an intersection between mending and being mindful”: Katrina Rodabaugh, “Mendfulness and the Long Journey to Repair,” Made by Katrina (blog), February 24, 2014, http://katrinarodabaugh.blogspot.com/2014/02/mendfulness-and-long-journey-to-repair.html.
p. 89“If your desire is a garment that is repairable”: Dawn Elliott, interview recorded and transcribed by JW, July 17, 2019.
p. 89“Mending embraces the fact that when we wear clothes”: Raheli Harper, response to author’s questionnaire, 2019.
p. 90Lisa Z. Morgan, department head for apparel design at the Rhode Island School of Design, says: Lisa Z. Morgan, interview recorded and transcribed by JW, February 16, 2019.
p. 91In Amsterdam in 2008, the artist collective Platform21: “Platform21 = Repairing,” https://www.platform21.nl/index.php.html.
p. 91Proteus Gowanus started its Fixers Collective: Robin Lestere, “Proteus Gowanus: Communal Repairs,” Project for Public Spaces, May 18, 2009, https://www.pps.org/article/proteus-gowanus-communal-repairs.
p. 91“Jan gave me a bag of LEGO”: Dispatchwork website, www.dispatchwork.info/92-khak-st-sulaymaniyah-amnasuraka-irak/.
p. 92agency is the ability of individuals to act on their intentions: Nicki Lisa Cole, “How Scientists Define Human Agency,” ThoughtCo, January 22, 2019, www.thoughtco.com/agency-definition-3026036.
p. 92Matthew Crawford considers the merits of “individual agency in a shared world”: Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft, p. 205.
p. 93The organizers titled her presentation “Repair Cafe”: Martine Postma’s presentation can be viewed through the Omega Institute’s online archives: https://vimeo.com/315997079/bac28befd1.
p. 94Luria saw that God filled the entire universe: Irwin Kula, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, p. 295.
p. 95“So often in religion we start with a stain or a sin or moral judgment”: Irwin Kula, telephone interview recorded and transcribed by JW, June 11, 2019.
p. 95“We see our separateness from each other as the cause of poverty, injustice, and suffering”: Irwin Kula, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, p. 296.
p. 95“Broken shards are everywhere”: Irwin Kula, Yearnings: Embracing the Sacred Messiness of Life, pp. 296–97.
p. 95“Repair Cafe makes it okay and laudable”: Irwin Kula, telephone interview recorded and transcribed by JW, June 11, 2019.
p. 95“The metaphor is so rich”: Irwin Kula, telephone interview recorded and transcribed by JW, June 11, 2019.
p. 96“‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse”: Margery Williams, The Velveteen Rabbit. The book was originally published by the George H. Doran Company in London in 1922. It is now an open-source book, available in the public domain.
Chapter 4: The Right to Repair
p. 97Crawford’s stated approach was “an inquiry into the value of work”: Matthew B. Crawford, Shop Class as Soulcraft, p. 3.
p. 98Then Kyle came across the “repair manifesto”: Kyle Wiens, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, July 30, 2019.
p. 98“Before we came along and started doing this”: Kyle Wiens, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, July 30, 2019.
p. 100“Tossing things out instead of fixing them has far-reaching consequences”: Kyle Wiens and Gay Gordon-Byrne, “Why We Must Fight for the Right to Repair Our Electronics.”
p. 100“When fixing items is actively discouraged by manufacturers”: Kate Lyons, “Can We Fix It? The Repair Cafes Waging War on Throwaway Culture,” The Guardian, March 15, 2018, www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/15/can-we-fix-it-the-repair-cafes-waging-war-on-throwaway-culture?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail.
p. 101In 2012, Massachusetts passed the Motor Vehicle Owners’ Right to Repair Act: Gabe Nelson, “Automakers Agree to ‘Right to Repair’ Deal,” Automotive News, January 25, 2014, www.autonews.com/article/20140125/RETAIL05/301279936/automakers-agree-to-right-to-repair-deal.
p. 101“the spread of copyrighted software…embedded in everyday products…raises particular concerns”: Introductory letter by Kayrn Temple Claggett, acting register of copyrights and director, U.S. Copyright Office, in U.S. Copyright Office, “Software-Enabled Consumer Products: A Report of the Register of Copyrights,” December 15, 2016, www.copyright.gov/policy/software/software-full-report.pdf.
p. 101“complex and opaque language to frustrate reasonable user expectations”: U.S. Copyright Office, “Software-Enabled Consumer Products: A Report of the Register of Copyrights,” December 15, 2016, p. 67.
p. 101“Can a company that sold you something use its patent on that product”: “Why You Should Care about the Supreme Court Case on Toner Cartridges,” Consumer Reports, May 3, 2018, www.consumerreports.org/consumerist/why-you-should-care-about-the-supreme-court-case-on-toner-cartridges.
p. 102“The growing complexity of electronic devices means that people need help”: “The Right to Repair” [editorial], New York Times, April 7, 2019.
p. 102Austin McConnell, a YouTube blogger in Springfield, Missouri: Austin McConnell, “Ink Cartridges Are a Scam,” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHX6tHdQGiQ.
p. 102“The stay-at-home-mom community is huge and full of talent”: Jessa Jones, iPad Rehab website, https://www.ipadrehab.com/index.cfm?Page=About.
p. 104“As the industry gets bigger, there’s more and more money”: Kyle Wiens, recorded and transcribed telephone interview with JW, July 30, 2019.
p. 104Tech companies, by one estimate, are outspending other interests: Margaret Sessa-Hawkins, “In Fight over the Right to Repair Equipment, Farmers Are Outspent 28-to-1,” Maplight website, June 6, 2017, https://maplight.org/?s=right+to+repair.
p. 104Gay Gordon-Byrne began her career buying, selling, and leasing large enterprise computers: Gay Gordon-Byrne, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, Albany, New York, May 21, 2019.
p. 104“We saw right to repair as a strategic place”: Nathan Proctor, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, Albany, New York, May 21, 2019.
p. 105“The big question is why it hasn’t happened already”: Joe Morelle, press conference, recorded and transcribed by JW, May 1, 2018, Statehouse, Albany, New York.
p. 105“A company puts out sophisticated equipment and then says”: Elizabeth Warren on All In with Chris Hayes, MSNBC, March 27, 2019.
p. 106A follow-up survey of more than one thousand registered voters: Avery Wendell and Mark White, “The Public Supports a Right to Repair,” Data for Progress, May 29, 2019, www.dataforprogress.org/blog/2019/5/29/right-to-repair-laws-are-popular.
p. 106“Mrs. Warren has the right idea”: “It’s Your iPhone. Why Can’t You Fix It Yourself?”, New York Times, April 7, 2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/04/06/opinion/sunday/right-to-repair-elizabeth-warren-antitrust.html?searchResultPosition=1.
p. 106“right-to-repair policy is a smart plan”: Editorial board, “The Right to Repair: Companies Should Not Dictate Where Items Are Fixed,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 15, 2019, www.post-gazette.com/opinion/editorials/2019/04/15/Right-to-repair-items-tools-farming-fixed-Elizabeth-Warren/stories/201904150020.
p. 106the Federal Trade Commission hosted “Nixing the Fix”: Federal Trade Commission, “Nixing the Fix: A Workshop on Repair Restrictions.”
p. 106The statutes discussed included the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act of 1975: At the July 16, 2019, FTC workshop, Commissioner Wilson characterized the act in her introductory comments to the hearing: “Magnuson-Moss prohibits companies from linking warranty coverage to the use of particular products and services unless the company provides those products or services for free.” She went on to say, “In the last year the FTC sent warning letters to several businesses whose warranties appeared to violate the law. Notably, those businesses responded by adjusting their business practices.” See Federal Trade Commission, “Nixing the Fix: A Workshop on Repair Restrictions.”
p. 109“In the United States, more than 416,000 cellphones”: The EPA estimate as reported by Charmaine Crutchfield in her article “Smartphone disposal poses security risks, experts warn,” USA Today, November 10, 2014, www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2014/11/10/smart-phone-security-risks/18798709/. This estimate was released by the EPA in the midst of the big tech change over from cell phones to smart phones. The EPA has not revised this figure, but with more than 161 million new smartphones sold in the U.S. in 2019 and consumers upgrading to newer models on average every two years, this estimate has likely gone up.
p. 109In 1967, the Maytag Corporation of Newton, Iowa: Susan Krashinsky, “The Maytag Man through the years,” Toronto Globe & Mail, June 19, 2017, https://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/the-maytag-man-through-the-years/article16247650.
p. 110“How do you change the material economy of the world?”: Kyle Wiens, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, July 30, 2019.
p. 111“Once people start repairing, they start asking questions”: Peter Mui, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, July 24, 2019.
p. 111New product releases are like catnip to tech hotshots: For example, on the day the iPhone 10 was released in November 2017, Kyle and a team of iFixit experts flew from their home in San Luis Obispo, California, to Sydney, Australia, to be first in line, in the earliest time zone, to get their hands on the new iPhone. Jason Koebler, the editor of Motherboard, accompanied Kyle and the iFixit team to Australia to cover the process, which he documented in a video titled How iFixit Became the World’s Best iPhone Teardown Team.
p. 112“Getting students to think about the longevity of products”: Marty Rippens, quoted in Madeleine Gregory, “A New Generation of Students Is Teaching Us How to Reduce E-Waste,” Vice Motherboard, August 23, 2019, www.vice.com/en_us/article/3kxqmv/a-new-generation-of-students-is-teaching-us-how-to-reduce-e-waste.
p. 112“I think of ourselves as an operating system to the repair world”: Kyle Wiens, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, July 30, 2019.
p. 113Motorola’s partnering with iFixit to provide repair kits: Vaughn Highfield, “Motorola Joins the Right to Repair Movement with DIY Repair Kits,” October 24, 2018, www.alphr.com/motorola/1010086/motorola-ifixit-right-to-repair-movement-repair-kit.
p. 113In Portland, Oregon, an organization called Portland Repair Finder: Portland Repair Finder, www.portlandrepairfinder.com. Its series of blog posts by Joel Newman and Molly Simas is excellent.
p. 113In New York City, Sandra Goldmark: Fixup website, fixup.nyc
p. 11480 percent of the environmental impacts: William McDonough and Michael Braungart, Cradle to Cradle, p. 91.
p. 115“Europe’s ‘take-make-use-throw’ economy is costing consumers money”: Chloé Fayole and Stéphane Arditi, “We Need More Durable and Reparable Products to Build a Circular Economy,” Euractive, https://www.euractiv.com/section/circular-economy/opinion/we-need-more-durable-and-reparable-products-to-build-a-circular-economy.
p. 115the European Commission considerably weakened the proposals: “EU to Deny Citizens Longer-Lasting and Repairable Popular Consumer Products,” November 29, 2018, https://eeb.org/eu-to-deny-citizens-longer-lasting-and-repairable-popular-consumer-products-media-brief.
p. 115“We are part of a growing movement”: “The Manchester Declaration,” https://therestartproject.org/about/the-manchester-declaration.
p. 115The European Commission approved new rules for appliance manufacturers: Roger Harrabin, “EU Brings in ‘Right to Repair’ Rules for Appliances,” BBC News, October 1, 2019, www.bbc.com/news/business-49884827?ns_linkname=news_central&ns_source=twitter&ns_campaign=bbc_politics&ns_mchannel=social.
p. 115“When repair activities stay in the hands of a few firms”: Stephane Arditi, quoted in “EU Brings in ‘Right to Repair’ Rules for Appliances.”
p. 116Individual European countries are adopting other kinds of repair-friendly policy: Richard Orange, “Waste Not Want Not: Sweden to Give Tax Breaks for Repairs,” The Guardian, September 19, 2016, www.theguardian.com/world/2016/sep/19/waste-not-want-not-sweden-tax-breaks-repairs.
p. 116The Open Repair Alliance is establishing an “open standard”: “Sharing Data on Repair, Open Repair Alliance,” n.d., https://openrepair.org/open-standard.
Chapter 5: Repairing in Place
p. 119a “veritable repair shop” for our bodies and spirits: Elizabeth Spelman, Repair: The Impulse to Restore in a Fragile World, p. 33.
p. 120single female homeowners outnumber single male: Emmie Martin, “Twice as Many Single Women Are Buying Homes as Single Men,” Make It, CNBC, May 11, 2018, www.cnbc.com/2018/05/11/single-women-account-for-twice-as-many-home-purchases-as-single-men.html.
p. 120breadwinning mothers are increasingly the norm: Sarah Jane Glynn, “Breadwinning Mothers Are Increasingly the U.S. Norm,” Center for American Progress, December 19, 2016, www.americanprogress.org/issues/women/reports/2016/12/19/295203/breadwinning-mothers-are-increasingly-the-u-s-norm.
p. 120“The towns were empty”: Dar Williams, recorded and transcribed telephone interview with JW, May 8, 2019.
p. 121“Well we’re heading for a past that you can leave”: Dar Williams, “Bought and Sold,” song written by Dar Williams (1997). Lyrics copyright BMG Rights Management. Used by permission.
p. 121She recalled a dinner in Charlottesville, Virginia: Dar Williams, What I Found in a Thousand Towns, p. xi.
p. 123“Let’s look at what Repair Cafe is doing”: Dar Williams, phone interview recorded and transcribed by JW, May 8, 2019.
p. 123“Communities thrive when there is a diverse range of equal voices”: Beth Macy, quoted by Dar Williams in What I Found in a Thousand Towns, p. 250.
p. 124“In this remote valley I felt a yearning for something”: Rob Hopkins, The Transition Handbook, p. 13.
p. 124“The following month we held our first Repair Cafe”: Therese Brummel, in Don Hall, ed., 10 Stories of Transition in the U.S., p. 22.
p. 124and the other strategies included in the 2019 book: Don Hall, ed., 10 Stories of Transition in the U.S.
p. 125“Social infrastructure influences seemingly mundane but actually consequential patterns”: Eric Klinenberg, Palaces for the People, p. 14.
p. 125a series of discussions initiated by the Sullivan County Human Rights Commission: “Dialogue2Change,” Human Rights Commission, Sullivan County website, n.d., http://sullivanny.us/Departments/Humanrights/Dialogue.
p. 125“It was just perfect for what we were trying to do”: Peggy Johansen, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, June 15, 2018.
p. 126Ray Kinsey hosts summertime Repair Cafes as part of his teen program: Bonni McKeown, “Roy Kinsey, Rapper and Librarian,” Austin Weekly News, April 29, 2019, https://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/4-29-2019/Roy-Kinsey,-rapper-and-librarian-/Photos/64358/; and Bonni McKeown, “Local Group Offers Free Repairs for West Siders,” Austin Weekly News, July 15, 2019, https://www.austinweeklynews.com/News/Articles/7-15-2019/Local-group-offers-free-repairs-for-West-Siders-.
p. 127“In library-speak, we catalog items and you can check them out”: Rebekkah Smith Aldrich, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, September 10, 2019.
p. 128“I want to create a space for self-directed learning”: Tessa Vierk, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, Chicago, Illinois, July 14, 2019.
p. 128“All people should have access to the things they need”: Jim Benton, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, Chicago, Illinois, July 14, 2019.
p. 128The “Great Tool Library Shout-Out”: Five posts on the Chicago Tool Library’s Instagram page, January 11–16, 2019. Posted by Tessa Vierk.
p. 131In the last few years there has been an outcry in some quarters: Tove Danovich, “Despite a Revamped Focus on Real-Life Skills, ‘Home Ec’ Classes Fade Away,” The Salt, NPR.org, June 14, 2018, www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/06/14/618329461/despite-a-revamped-focus-on-real-life-skills-home-ec-classes-fade-away?fbclid=IwAR2ZP5Wvlu_5mUwNtJam5nVnnaPOEQ6iRPJYgSDnBjljC2j2nZl_0AuOGOg. See also Celia Stall-Meadows, “Weaving Sustainability into Family and Consumer Sciences Education”; Michelle Yungblut (chief knowledge officer), Bringing Back Shop Class, Electronic Security Association blog, January 9, 2019, http://esaweb.org/News/bringing-back-shop-class.
p. 131“the real change will come when the learning of repair skills”: “Lack of Repair Knowledge Hinders Circular Economy,” Repair Café Foundation website, posted April 3, 2019.
p. 132a curriculum called “Repair in the Classroom” has been developed: Repair Café International Foundation, Repair in the Classroom, available in English, French, German, and Belgian, www.repaircafe.org.
p. 133“I fix things for people so they will tell a story”: Michael Whitney, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 133Culture of Repair is “working to transform our culture”: Vita Wells, Culture of Repair, www.cultureofrepair.org.
p. 134has a well-established maker-centered professional development program for teachers: Agency by Design website, http://www.agencybydesign.org.
p. 134Shraddha Soparawala, a math teacher, created a class: Shraddha Soparawala (Sopar), “The Art of Repair: A Middle School Elective Class,” Agency by Design News, March 17, 2019, www.abdoakland.org/news/2019/3/17/developing-a-repair-mindset-with-middle-school-students.
p. 134“I’m confident that the combination of the momentum behind Maker education”: Vita Wells, email exchange with JW, November 29, 2019.
p. 134the Apollo 13 spacecraft was fixed 248,655 miles from home: “Apollo 13,” NASA website, July 8, 2009, www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/missions/apollo13.html. See also Stephen Cass, “Apollo 13, We Have a Solution,” IEEE Spectrum website, April 1, 2005, https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/space-age/apollo-13-we-have-a-solution.
p. 136Repair in the Museum: All quotations in this section are from recorded and transcribed interviews with JW, RISD Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, Rhode Island, February 16, 2019. Interviewees: Kate Irvin, Brian Goldberg, Anna Rose Keefe, Markus Berger, Lisa Z. Morgan.
p. 139The Clearwater is a 106-foot-long: Betsy Garthwaite, “Restoring Clearwater,” p. 3.
p. 140“sailing in the industrial sewer”: David Schuyler, Embattled River, p. 67.
p. 140The work was beautifully documented in the film: Jon Bowermaster, executive producer, Restoring the Clearwater [documentary film], soundtrack transcription.
p. 141“the essential art of civilization is maintenance”: Pete Seeger, quoted in Betsy Garthwaite, “Restoring Clearwater,” p. 4.
p. 141In the midst of these changes, a small private property: Lynn Woods, “Sacred Space: Kingston Groups Hurrying to Buy Site of 250-Year-Old African Burial Ground,” Kingston Times, February 21, 2018.
p. 142In 2019 the property was listed at auction: Further information about land protection efforts for the Pine Street African Burial Ground came from email exchanges with Julia Farr, executive director, Kingston Land Trust, December 5, 2019.
p. 142legal scholar Katherine Franke makes the case for community land trusts: Katherine Franke, Repair: Redeeming the Promise of Abolition. p. 131.
p. 142“Right over there on Pine Street is proof”: Micah Blumenthal, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, Kingston, New York, August 22, 2019.
Chapter 6: Repairing Is Caring
p. 144“In taking up repair.…”: Brian Goldberg, critic at RISD Department of Architecture and project consultant to the “Repair and Design Futures” exhibition. Quote is from Manual: A Journal About Art and Its Making, Fall 2018, preface.
p. 144In the UK, the Restart project calls their events parties: https://therestartproject.org.
p. 144“This occasion and this meeting”: Anthony Man-Tu Lee, The Japanese Tea Ceremony (Brighton, UK: Ivy Press Limited, 1999), p. [46/33].
p. 145“Benedict’s Rule is a foundational expression of the principle of hospitality”: Christine Valters Paintner, “Monks in Our Midst: Christine Valters Paintner on Hospitality,” Monasteries of the Heart, https://www.monasteriesoftheheart.org/monks-our-midst/christine-valters-paintner-hospitality.
p. 145“Every color of the earth”: This Invitation to Communion was written by Bette Sohm, pastor of New Paltz United Methodist Church from 2010 to 2018. It is unique to this church and is cherished by its congregation (where coauthor John is a member). Pastor Sohm described her intention in writing it: “I have always been a person who has struggled with, and understands, being the outsider, the unwanted. This is the closest I could get to going out and taking each person by the hand, looking in their eyes, and saying, ‘yes, even you are welcome.’”
p. 145the word’s true first meaning is “from the root”: Robert Schnase, Five Practices of Fruitful Congregations, p. 21.
p. 146“It breathes in more life, brings in new stories”: Noah Hargett, director, ROSS Program, Beacon Housing Authority, recorded and transcribed phone interview with JW, November 14, 2019.
p. 146“This is the thing”: Teryl Mickens, email to JW, November 22, 2019.
p. 146“This is more than just an opportunity to fix broken things”: Jordan Scruggs, email to JW, November 19, 2018.
p. 147“Ever since I was a little girl,” she says, “I loved my dad’s workshop”: Jo Schilling, recorded and transcribed phone interview with JW, October 16, 2019.
p. 147“My Mom’s and electrician’s daughter”: “Electrician’s Daughter,” music and lyrics by Ken Lonnquist, copyright 1992. Used by permission. From the CD “Welcome 2 Kenland.” kenlonnquist.com (Madison, Wisconsin). “One hell of a good songwriter and singer.” — Pete Seeger.
p. 148“I can’t stand to see them sent to a landfill”: Dave Panico, email to JW, November 5, 2018.
p. 149“The first year we did this, all the bikes got stolen”: Bill Shader, recorded and transcribed interview with JW, June 1, 2019.
p. 149a feature article titled “Pedal Power” that ran in their monthly lifestyle magazine: Deana Carpenter, “Recycle a Bicycle,” Suburban Living, June/July 2011.
p. 151“Pramageddon has truly been upon us over the last two weeks”: Repair Cafe Glasgow Instagram posts, and emails with Lauren Crilly, communications, events, and volunteer officer at Repair Cafe Glasgow, November 26–December 4, 2019.
p. 151community-made “welcome packs” to “forcibly displaced people arriving in Glasgow”: Ibid.
p. 152“Through a youth mentoring program”: Frank Szenher, email exchange with JW, March 11, 2019.
p. 152“autistics and other neurodivergents”: In response to our questions about language and autism, Leanne Scalli recommended this very helpful article: “Talking About Autism” written by Erin Bulluss, PhD, and Abby Sesterka. Psychology Today, October 1, 2019. www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/insights-about-autism/201910/talking-about-autism. Arianna Reybitz adds: “I personally have no big hang-ups about the terminology. Everyone with autism is different. Some have more challenges with different things than others and that needs to be acknowledged.” Email to JW, December 10, 2019.
p. 152Panda Méry is active with Restart: Paul Méry, “About Spoons and Spudgers: Community Repair for Neurodivergents,” Restarters, June 18, 2018, https://talk.restarters.net/t/about-spoons-and-spudgers-community-repair-for-neurodivergents/503.
p. 152In blog posts and podcasts, he relates: “Neurodiversity and Mental Health,” Restart Radio, Resonance 104.4 FM (London), October 11, 2017, https://therestartproject.org/podcast/neurodiversity-mental-health/?_ga=2.266462158.1925059530.1567105161-506008652.1559663819. See also Jim Sinclair, “Being Autistic Together.”
p. 154“I’ve always been really passionate about taking care of the planet”: Leanne Scalli, recorded and transcribed phone interview with JW, August 23, 2019.
p. 156One version, organized by Swap Positive, is called “free fashion & frugal fun”: Swap Positive blog, https://swappositive.wordpress.com/.
p. 156she wrote her master’s thesis about both experiences: Sarah Guldenbrein, “Convivial Clothing: Engagement with Decommodified Fashion in Portland, Oregon.”
p. 157“Brands Taking Stands”: The name of a media forum that highlights stories and case studies of private companies taking leadership roles on a range of social and environmental issues. It was created by media company Triple Pundit to advance the business philosophy known as the “triple bottom line” in which equal priority is given to people, planet, and profits.
p. 157Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar made a case for “brand activism”: Philip Kotler and Christian Sarkar, “Finally, Brand Activism!,” Marketing Journal, January 9, 2017, www.marketingjournal.org/finally-brand-activism-philip-kotler-and-christian-sarkar.
p. 157“Brand purpose of this nature is a marathon”: Paul Alexander, “The Case for Brands Taking a Stand,” Wall Street Journal Online, December 12, 2018, https://deloitte.wsj.com/cmo/2018/12/12/the-case-for-brands-taking-a-stand.
p. 158“fosters an unhealthy dissatisfaction with what one has”: Juliet B. Schor, True Wealth, p. 41.
p. 158“the scale of fast fashion is so massive”: Mark Liu, “For a True War on Waste the Fashion Industry Must Spend More on Research,” The Conversation, August 15, 2017, https://theconversation.com/for-a-true-war-on-waste-the-fashion-industry-must-spend-more-on-research-78673.
p. 158“We’re trying to take responsibility”: Eileen Fisher, quoted in “Eileen Fisher Wants Those Clothes Back When You’re Done,” Washington Post, August 31, 2018, www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/eileen-fisher-wants-those-clothes-back-when-youre-done/2018/08/31/cd873aea-ac58-11e8-b1da-ff7faa680710_story.html.
p. 158It takes 713 gallons of water to make one cotton shirt: World Resources Institute, quoted in Daisy Alioto, “Eileen Fisher’s Westchester Factory Paves the Way to Sustainable Fashion.”
p. 158it announced a recycling initiative that was a carbon copy of Eileen Fisher’s: H&M (Hennes & Mauritz AB), 2016 annual report.
p. 159“We realized that we need to share what we know”: Eileen Fisher, quoted in Daisy Alioto, “Eileen Fisher’s Westchester Factory Paves the Way to Sustainable Fashion.”
p. 159“with the “ambition to become 100% circular and renewable”: Robin Turk, “H&M Group and Ikea join to study recycled materials,” Fashion United, https://fashionunited.in/news/fashion/h-m-group-and-ikea-join-to-study-recycled-materials/2019102223060.
p. 159“We work with different factories, and they may recommend our ideas”: Denise Neil, interview recorded and transcribed by JW, Bard College, October 1, 2019.
p. 159“Why is repair such a radical act?”: Rose Marcario, “Repair Is a Radical Act,” Patagonia website, November 25, 2015, https://www.patagonia.com/blog/2015/11/repair-is-a-radical-act.
Chapter 7: How Do I Get One of These in My Town?
p. 165Eager to promote her Repair Cafe more widely: Elizabeth Huebner, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 169the handy master volunteer list put together by Repair Cafe Toronto: “Volunteer Descriptions,” Repair Cafe Toronto, http://repaircafetoronto.ca/volunteer-descriptions-pamphlet-2/, reprinted with permission. The “Greeters” section was moved to the beginning of the reprinted text; other minor changes were made for stylistic reasons.
p. 174Sign templates with logos are included in the Repair Café manual: “Start Your Own,” Repair Café website, https://repaircafe.org/en/start.
p. 178“Each person receives a number that matches their sheet”: Jen Picard, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.
p. 181it is “highly advisable to have a local lawyer or legal expert check”: Martine Postma, https://repaircafe.org/en/foundation.
p. 189GreenFaith, “a coalition for the environment”: Green Faith website, https://greenfaith.org/.
p. 189The Green Muslims of New Jersey aim to educate people: Green Muslims of New Jersey website, http://greenmuslimsnj.blogspot.com/p/welcome.html.
p. 189Quaker Earthcare Witness is a North American network of Friends: www.quakerearthcare.org.
p. 190“When it comes to your health, loneliness may be as bad as smoking”: AARP magazine, https://www.aarp.org/health/healthy-living/info-2018/loneliness-isolation-personal-stories.html.
p. 192“It enables people to reuse items instead of tossing them in the landfill”: Sustainable Warwick website, http://sustainablewarwick.org.
p. 192The Scrap Exchange operates a retail store: See the Scrap Exchange website, https://scrapexchange.org/programs.
p. 193teaching youth to repair rather than “reflexively trash and repurchase”: Culture of Repair Project website, www.cultureofrepair.org.
p. 193“The vision and values of Repair Cafes fit our core values”: Micaela Salatino, written response to our questionnaire, 2019.