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Elizabeth Knight is an author, sustainability activist and founder of the first Repair Café in Orange County, NY, and is the co-author (with John Wackman) of Repair Revolution: How Fixers Are Transforming Our Throwaway Culture.
In the book, John and Elizabeth explore repairing in the broadest sense of the word. They focus on the community repair experience, the wisdom of repair, the sustainable aspects of repairing, the adventure of opening a device and seeing what’s inside, the right to repair that is gaining attention worldwide – and much more!
We hear how repair cafes can bridge across social divides, and how they help people of all ages and backgrounds build new connections and develop their social confidence levels. We find out that you don’t need to be a repair geek, and hear about the wide range of volunteer roles available. Elizabeth explains what visible mending is, tells us inspiring stories about the rewards of being involved in a Repair Café, and how you can find one, or start your own.
Podcast host Catherine Weetman helps businesses use circular, regenerative and fair solutions to do better, with less.
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Read on for more on our guest and links to the people, organisations and other resources we mention.
Links we mention in the episode:
- The book, by John Wackman and Elizabeth Knight Repair Revolution: How Fixers Are Transforming Our Throwaway Culture https://www.repaircafeusa.org/repair-revolution-book
- https://www.repaircafeusa.org/
- The website John and Elizabeth developed, and want to promote to strengthen connections between people who want to start a repair café, already have one, and are looking for a location near them https://www.repaircafeusa.org/start-a-repair-cafe
- Repair Café TV https://repaircafe.tv/
About Elizabeth Knight
Elizabeth Knight, became a sustainability activist when she discovered that Orange County hadn’t had a Recycling Coordinator for more than 12 years. For nearly 2 years, she and her husband lobbied county legislators who finally re-funded the position in 2016. That same year she started her County’s first Repair Cafe – 4 years on it enjoys the support of 30 volunteers from 9 different towns and attracts visitors from 13-19 towns in 3 states. Her team has received certificates of appreciation from county, town, and village officials.
Dismayed by the amount of useful goods kicked to the curb for the Village of Warwick’s annual bulk trash pickup, and to celebrate Earth Day, Elizabeth founded Too Good Toss, an annual free community swap visited by hundreds of people. In October 2018, she organized a pop-up Repair Café at the international Reuse Conex convention held in Cincinnati, Ohio, where Martine Postma, founder of Repair Café International, was the keynote speaker.
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