"repair Cafe" Coffee in Amsterdam, the Netherlands Coffee anecdotes Dutch Cafe recommendation

Abstract: the "repair Cafe" in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, encourages people to bring faulty daily items to experts and volunteers for repair. After that, these products can be put back into use to avoid being discarded. Repair Cafe has quietly sprung up a man who is unemployed at home.

Repair Cafe in Amsterdam, the Netherlands

The repair Cafe in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, encourages people to bring faulty daily items to experts and volunteers for repair. After that, these products can be put back into use to avoid being discarded.

The "repair coffee shop" is quietly on the rise.

An unemployed man at home, a retired pharmacist and a furniture dealer sit behind a table covered with striped tablecloths, with screwdrivers and sewing machines on the table with coffee, tea, desserts and other food. Hiriji Haird, who lives nearby, pushed into a striped suitcase, took out an old iron and said, "it's broken and there's no steam."

She came to the right place. The "repair Cafe" in Amsterdam, which first opened in a theater lounge and then rented a room in a hotel, is now a community center retention project several times a month. People bring things that need to be repaired and give them to volunteers to fix them free of charge.

"repair Cafe" has been around for nearly three years, and the idea is to reduce garbage. The repair Cafe Foundation has raised $525000 in donations from zhengfu, foundations and individuals to develop the project. In the Netherlands, 30 organizations have set up "repair Cafe" for people in the surrounding community to donate their skills and labor every month for free to repair worn clothes and faulty electrical appliances, such as coffee machines, lamps, vacuum cleaners, bread machines, washing machines, juicers and so on.

Theo, a volunteer wearing a T-shirt emblazoned with the words "Mr. repair Cafe", is an accountant who repairs Haird's broken iron. He took off the plastic shell of the iron, exposed a mass of colorful wires inside, and began to repair it. As he worked, he talked to Haird about the traditional Suriname headscarf, which is what Suriname-born Hilde does for a living.

After a while, Theo reinstalled the iron, turned it on, the light came on, the rust flowed out with the water, and the iron worked again.

Practical and effective environmental protection behavior

Martine Potsma, the founder of repair Cafe, a former journalist, began to pay special attention to environmental issues after the birth of her second child. "Europeans throw away too many things, and it's a pity that many of them are thrown away," she said. Now that there are more and more people in the world, our previous way of life is unsustainable. I think I can't just start writing, but I should do something real. "

After watching an exhibition of repaired and recycled items, she was deeply touched by the creative, cultural and economic value shown in it, and decided that helping people repair damaged daily items could help prevent excessive waste.

"people's discussions about sustainable development are often too idealistic," Pozma said. However, after learning how to grow mushrooms a few times, people began to get bored. But 'repair coffee shop' is different, it is very practical. The purpose of this project is to bring together the efforts of everyone and start with the little things around us. " In addition, she said, the project is not a commercial activity and will not compete with repair shops.

Although less than 3% of the municipal waste in the Netherlands is completely discarded, there is still room for improvement. Jupazma, Minister of Infrastructure and Environment of the Netherlands, said: "repairing the Cafe is an effective reminder to people that what they have lost is still useful."

Find more social value

Professor Hanfan Castron, who studies waste disposal at Eindhoven Technical University, said: "it's a good idea and it makes a lot of social sense. People work together to protect the environment, but also enhance their awareness of environmental protection. "

For some people, "repairing coffee shops" is not only good for environmental protection, but also has social value. One Tuesday night, an old lady came to the repair Cafe with her broken vacuum cleaner, which she bought when she got married and has been in use for 40 years. Watching 70-year-old volunteer John Zudema fix the vacuum cleaner, she said with satisfaction: "I am very, very happy." When my husband was alive, he repaired all these things. "

The Dorne Foundation has provided a grant of more than $260000 for repair Cafe as part of the Foundation's Social connections project. Nina Talegan, president of the foundation, said: "what we are interested in is that this project creates opportunities for people to get along, to break down barriers and get to know each other."

In addition, she also said that the elderly may be particularly fond of "repairing coffee shops." "they have skills that young people don't have," she said. In the past, many people could repair things by themselves, but now we rely on the services of others and seldom do it ourselves. "

Ivarian H. Dunkens, a sociology professor at the University of Amsterdam, agrees with Talegan. "it's a sign of the times," he said. " He pointed out that "repair Cafe" has the characteristics of anti-consumerism, anti-market and do-it-yourself, which are the characteristics of a broader movement in the Netherlands. The movement advocates improving people's living standards through grassroots actions.

The repair Cafe Foundation helps interested organizations and institutions carry out this activity throughout the Netherlands, including listing the tools they need and assisting them in fund-raising and advocacy. In addition, some organizations in France, Belgium, Germany, Poland, Ukraine, South Africa and Australia have also applied to open "repair cafes" locally.

Tikin Nordenbosch, 62, is an artist who opened the repair Cafe in Delft a few months ago. " He noticed that the repair shops of his youth were gradually disappearing. "I like to fix things," he said. Over the years, you take the broken things back to the store for repair, and they will say,'We have to send it back to the original factory for repair. it will cost 100 euros, it would be better to buy a new one'. "

Architect William McDonald said: "We are now experiencing 'arranged degradation', so we become careless and mindless." If something is broken, just throw it away. Don't think about it. " He follows the "from beginning to end" design philosophy, which is that all parts of one product can be disassembled and reapplied to another product. This philosophy also inspired Pozma. McDonnell added: "the value of repairing cafes is that people re-establish relationships with the objects around them."

Take Higrid Dieters and her black miniskirt with a hole in it as an example. She said that her hands were stupid and she never knew how to mend them. "this dress is less than 10 euros. It's very cheap. Just throw it away and buy a new one. But if I mend it, I'll wear it again. "

Mayana is a volunteer at repair Cafe, responsible for distributing data questionnaires and providing coffee to other volunteers. "all kinds of people come here in different situations, but they are all very enthusiastic about environmental protection," she said. "