Correction: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated the end time of this event. The Fixit UP event will end at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11.
Marie Jobes first learned about repair cafes and fix it events through her environmental studies at the University of Portland and was intrigued — growing up on the Big Island of Hawaii, she had never heard of anything like them before.
Waste reduction is important to Jobes, so as a part of her senior environmental internship class, she has organized UP’s first repair cafe, Fixit UP. This Saturday Nov. 11, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., students, faculty, staff and community members are invited to bring their broken bikes, small appliances and clothing to Franz Hall 120 to have them fixed.
Jobes sees Fixit UP, and other repair cafes, as a way to fight against planned obsolescence, which she defined as the idea that most of our things are “manufactured to become obsolete far before they have to.”
“I thought creating that mentality of fixing it and reducing waste in general is something that college students should be way more aware of,” said Jobes, an organizational communications major.
After attending a few local events with Repair PDX, Jobes organized UP’s first event of this kind with the help of her internship advisor Steven Kolmes, director of the environmental studies program at UP.
“The disposability of items in our society is one of the huge causes of our environmental crisis,” Kolmes said. “It’s a really ugly cycle, and fixing things breaks that cycle.”
Jobes also received organizational support from sophomore Ruby Beauchamp, an environmental ethics and policy and organizational communication double major, who said she hopes Fixit UP can be a learning experience for the campus community.
“I think it’s important to teach people how to live more sustainably, and adopt new living practices such as fixing the things you own instead of just throwing them away,” Beauchamp said.
Jobes is a senior, but she said she hopes the event will continue on campus after she is gone. It’s possible, she said, that the College Ecology Club will take leadership of the event in the future.
Although the event will be focusing on bikes, small appliances, and clothing, Jobes encouraged folks to email her at jobes18@up.edu if they are interested in bringing larger items to ensure that one of the roughly 25 fixers will be able to repair it.
For more information about Fixit UP, visit the event’s Facebook page.
