Waste Wise Lane County will be bringing free repair services to farmers markets in Cottage Grove, Florence, and Oakridge at new Fix-It Booths.
Residents can bring broken household items, clothing, and electronics to one of the booths and receive help from a repair expert– at no cost. The booths will pop-up at farmers markets every other week, rotating out the category of repair offered.
The initiative stems from the Lane County Fix-It Fairs, which started in 2023. The fairs host more repair experts but occur less frequently.
Mitra Gruwell, the coordinator of Lane County Fix-it Fairs, said the goal is to help people in rural communities get easier access to sustainable choices.
“Helping them understand that repair is an option, which means they’re not going out and throwing something away and rebuying it, because they know they have a Fix-It Fair or repair source available to them,” she said.
While some towns may already have repair shops, barriers like transportation or cost may prevent some people from actually getting something fixed.
Gruwell said these barriers are motivating factors behind the Fix-It Booths.
“The more obstacles you remove for people, like cost and distance and frequency of access, the more likely they are to change their behavior about repair,” said Gruwell.
Lane County will also host its traditional Fix-It Fair in Springfield on Sept. 21. The Fix-It booths will run through fall. Schedules and locations for the booths are available at fixitlanecounty.org/calendar.
