Beloved items break. Shirts get snagged. Switches snap. Appliances short out.
The Lackawanna County Office of Environmental Sustainability, Johnson College and the City of Scranton want to help residents fix those items, instead of buying new ones.
"This event is kind of matching up with how the vibe is lately, like people really do want to … buy secondhand, keep things for as long as they can, and reduce like that throwaway society, kind of step away from that overconsumption,” said Nicole Shapiro, director of the county’s Office of Environmental Sustainability.
The free community Fix-It Fair is on Saturday, Nov. 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Johnson College’s Scranton campus on North Main Avenue. Fixers, including Johnson students and community volunteers, will provide a wide range of services at no cost.
"It also aligns with our office mission — sustainability, using what you have, trying to make it work,” Shapiro said.
Those with broken objects must register for a two-hour time slot and upload photos of the item.
"So that the volunteers fixing the items they know what to expect the day of, so they could bring any tools or materials,” she said.
Woodworking, knife sharpening, visible mending and earring, book and bicycle repairs will be offered, alongside repairs of small appliances and upholstery and more.
The event will also feature hands-on workshops and demonstrations, including fixing holes in walls, resume writing, making a computer run faster and trimming a pet’s nails. There will also be fun activities for the community and children, including a puppet show and face painting.
"We want people to come and hang out,” Shapiro said. “Expect to be there for about one to two hours.”
The Fix-It Fair is also an early celebration of America Recycles Day, which is Sunday, Nov. 15.
‘Secondhand’ and ‘circular’ economies
Shapiro and Markieann Muncie, education specialist/community outreach for the county's environmental office, attended a session during a Keep Pennsylvania Beautiful conference with high school students.
Muncie said the students discussed how different life is for younger generations than older generations.
One of the students mentioned the secondhand economy.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the shift toward secondhand apparel, specifically, is driven by consumer concerns about clothing costs and environmental sustainability.
And younger generations are driving that shift.
“More millennials and members of Generation Z are including secondhand items among their apparel purchases, with 42% of each generation shopping secondhand clothes at some point in 2020,” the bureau reports.
There’s also an idea called the “circular economy.”
“In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste — the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place,” according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works to accelerate the transition to a circular economy.
Muncie, 24, said her generation began learning about environmental sustainability and climate change in kindergarten.
"People want to thrift. They want to fix things because they don't want to have to buy new. People, I feel like, are just tired of that," Muncie said. "They want something that will last, and if they can fix it, they want to fix it.”
'New norm'
Shapiro and Muncie also hope participants will leave the Fix-It-Fair with new skills.
"Part of it too is you can actually watch the people do the fixing and learn something from them as well,” Muncie said.
And for those who might not have the right tools at home to fix a broken item, the Lackawanna County Library System will be at the fair to discuss their “Library of Things,” which includes tool kits and sewing kits.
Shapiro said thrifting has become a trend in Northeast Pennsylvania, and that the social stigma around buying secondhand clothes and items is disappearing.
"If more of these events pop up ... it's going to be just like a new norm, and that's what we want. We want it to be the norm. Fix what you have ... don't be a throwaway society,” she said.
Shapiro hopes that the first Fix-It-Fair on Nov. 14 won’t be the last.
"We hope to do this every year. If we could do it quarterly in the future, that would be neat as well,” she said.
The event is open to residents from Lackawanna County and the surrounding communities. No advance registration is required to enjoy the general activities.
Participants are asked to sign a waiver in case their object cannot be fixed or becomes more damaged. Some repairs may also require specialized tools, equipment, or materials that might not be available at the event. If an item cannot be repaired, the fixers may diagnose the problem and explain how the person can fix it or recommend a local business that can do the job.
The last day to register to have an item repaired is Thursday, Nov. 12, at noon.
To sign up to have an item fixed or register for a workshop, visit https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfM7TgryesHZy7c_31-dZ22JZljlIcAk3WKcj5DMUFM1F4ltg/viewform.
