Somewhere among your possessions is a thing you’ve stopped trusting. The phone that’s at 20 percent charge by lunch. The lamp that works only if you wiggle the switch just so. The coat whose zipper splits open halfway up, or the jeans with a blown-out knee you keep meaning to deal with. None of it has gone in the trash yet, but you’ve probably priced a replacement in your head.

Hold off on that purchase for one more week. International E-Waste Day lands on Wednesday, October 14, and International Repair Day follows on Saturday, October 17, its tenth year. Last year’s Repair Day drew more than 3,000 events in 50 countries, many of them free, where volunteers sit down beside you and fix the thing, or show you how to fix it yourself.

This week’s step is on the Goods pathway, suggesting you buy less, care for what you already own, choose well when you do buy, and keep useful materials out of landfills. Repair is the caring-for-it part, and it often does the most good, since the greenest product is usually the one you already have. Bringing your item to a repair event also advances the Community pathway by growing networks of people who practice sustainability together. That pairing is especially relevant this year: Repair Day organizers have asked events to celebrate how repair brings people together.

Why a fix is worth more than it costs

Most of an object’s environmental impact is paid up front. Mining, refining, manufacturing, and shipping account for an estimated 79 percent of a typical smartphone’s lifetime pollution emissions, and about 84 percent of a blender’s, before either is ever switched on. Each extra year of use spreads that cost thinner. When the European Environmental Bureau modeled what would happen if every smartphone, laptop, washing machine, and vacuum cleaner in the European Union stayed in service just one year longer, the savings came to about 4 million tonnes of greenhouse gas pollution a year. (A metric tonne is about 2,204.6 pounds, roughly 10% heavier than a U.S. ton.)

Volunteers on the Restarters network have logged more than 156,000 items fixed at community events, preventing an estimated 4,091 tonnes of emissions and 476 tonnes of waste. That works out to roughly 26 kilograms of greenhouse gas pollution prevented for each thing that went home in working order.

The odds are on your side. Of more than 37,000 repairs Repair Café volunteers recorded in 2024, 62 percent succeeded. People brought vacuum cleaners, coffee makers, and trousers most often. Across more than 441,000 repair attempts logged by community groups worldwide, textiles were fixed 88 percent of the time and electrical items 54 percent.

Whatever can’t be saved still matters. The world generated 62 million tonnes of electronic waste in 2022, and only 22.3 percent was documented as properly collected and recycled. Small devices like microwaves, vacuums, and toys made up a third of that pile, and just 12 percent of them were recycled. This year’s E-Waste Day focuses on “fast tech” or small, inexpensive gadgets that are the electronic cousin of fast fashion.

Your one step this week

Find one thing you own that needs repair and fix it (or get it fixed) before October 18.

Spend a few minutes looking through your closet, junk drawer, and garage, and ask yourself two questions:

1) What have you been working around because it’s not in perfect working order?

2) What were you planning to replace before winter?

Maybe it’s a phone that won’t hold a charge, a laptop with a sticky key, a lamp, a wobbly chair, boots with a separating sole, or a coat with a busted zipper. Repair Cafés take electrical appliances, clothing, furniture, crockery, bicycles, and toys, covering almost anything you can carry. If you come up empty, consider participating in or organizing a repair event to help others in your community with broken items that need fixing. Repair events run on volunteers, and someone who simply shows up to help is usually welcome.

Choose the route that fits your week:

  • A community repair event. Search the Repair Café map for your town, or try your town or county name plus “fix-it clinic,” since many libraries and county waste departments run them. Help is free, donations are welcome, and you usually don’t need to register.

  • A local pro. A tailor, cobbler, phone repair shop, or appliance technician counts just as much. Repair doesn’t have to be volunteer work to keep something in service.

  • Do it yourself. For common jobs like swapping a phone or laptop battery, iFixit has free step-by-step guides for thousands of products.

Before you attend the repair cafe or visit a local pro, write a one-line description of what’s wrong and when it started, and pack the charger, cord, or any part that came with the item. Repair events stock small parts like switches, plugs, and thread, but bigger parts may mean ordering online and returning next time. If the event is close by, walk or bike there. The Repair Café Foundation also notes that a long drive can cancel out the footprint savings of getting something repaired (last week’s One Step piece on walking short trips covers that issue).

Some things can’t be fixed, and that’s fine. You’ll still leave knowing what failed, which is worth something next time you buy. Truly finished electronics belong with a certified e-waste recycler. The EPA recommends recyclers certified to either the R2 or e-Stewards standard.

Something in your house is quietly waiting to find out whether it gets a second life. Take it somewhere this week, sit down with someone who knows what’s inside, and carry it home working. Next time something breaks, fixing it will feel like your first move instead of a long shot.

Sustainable Practices: Your Handbook for Effective Action and www.suspra.com go deeper into the Goods pathway and how its steps build on one another. Our One Step archive at www.SustainablePractice.Life offers more ways to make what you own last.

References and Resources

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Sustainable Practice empowers you to protect our planet in practical ways. Share this article with someone who’s about to replace something that just needs a fix, and invite them along to a repair event this week.