Havering Friends of the Earth

Make Do and Mend

by John Robinson; first published 21-Jan-2022

Some simple repair jobs - John Robinson

Last month, Ian Pirie introduced three of our "five Rs" to help the environment: Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. In this article I'd like to highlight another important one: Repair.

People from my parents' generation were often obliged to "make do and mend". By repairing everything they could, from shoes and socks to pots and pans, they saved not only money, but also precious raw materials and energy. I'm glad to see such habits becoming fashionable again, albeit sometimes for different reasons. It can be immensely satisfying to save your treasured possessions from the scrap heap, as shown by popular TV programmes like The Repair Shop.

A "Right to Repair" law was passed recently, obliging manufacturers to make spare parts available for certain appliances. It's a welcome step, although it would be good to see more items covered, and some sort of control over pricing; it should always be cheaper to repair something than to replace it!

You should always get electrical repairs done by a professional, unless you have specialist knowledge and skills. But with a little imagination and basic tools, we can all prolong the life of many other things in the home. Pictured are a few simple repairs I've made for no cost other than a few minutes of my time. Over the years I've filled several boxes and trays with old bits of wire, bolts, springs, brackets etc, so I rarely need to buy anything new to make a repair. Another worthwhile habit is to keep handbooks and instructions in one place, such as a box file, where they won't get lost.

Nowadays when an appliance goes wrong, the "repair" might just be a software update! My 10-year-old TV recently stopped displaying the Electronic Programme Guide (EPG) - this turned out to be because the guide was being transmitted in a slightly different way. By downloading and installing a software update I got my EPG back, and now the TV is good for another few years.

So, if you're still searching for a New Year's Resolution (or have already broken the first one!) why not aim to have more things repaired, instead of throwing them away?