Stuff breaks. And all too often it gets thrown out rather than repaired. This is partly a conspiracy perpetrated by manufacturers, and partly a lack of knowledge by the person who broke it - you.
First the juicy conspiracy. My mother gave each child in the family a good quality food processor shortly before she died - everyone in our family makes food in mass quantities. That was 29 years ago. After 15 years of hard use, the drive belt broke. I read the tiny writing on the bottom of the machine, called the company and was told they don't make that part anymore, but they would give me a $10 off coupon for the new improved model.
I went to the internet with the model number, and found an aftermarket belt for $2.50 - free shipping. Everything whirred along fine until the grater/slicer support post disappeared. Probably me. But the food processor is stored on a shelf near the kitchen garbage pail where a grandchild likes to explore, so maybe him.
Back to the web - eBay in this case - and for $8, a new drive post and a much sharper grater slicer attachment - free shipping !
If you broke something, or your grandchild - yeah, it was probably him - lost something, throwing out a 97.5% functional machine is the last thing you should do.
Our toaster from before my mom died still worked fine as long as you held the handle down and watched the bread. A simple disassembly - unplugged - revealed the bent part - probably a different older grandchild. After a difficult reassembly, the toaster is back in action although the pop-up noise has changed a bit.
If fixing stuff is not your forte, and you need the item now, the miracle internet has a list of repair shops at fixitlanecounty.com. Don't tell me it's cheaper to buy something that will break in a year than to get the quality product fixed. My mom would not approve.
Local Fix-It fairs can often do the job - no shipping, and for free. There are events in August and September. Maybe I'll see you there - but more likely you'll have fixed it yourself by then.
I'm John Fischer with Living Less Unsustainably.