International Repair Day falls on 17th October this year, and it’s a good prompt to think about a skill that’s easy to overlook: repair.
When something breaks, the easiest question to ask is “should I replace it?” Repair encourages a different one: “can this be fixed?” That small shift in thinking can make a big difference. Mending a school jumper, fixing a bicycle, patching a bag or replacing a broken part all keep products in use for longer, and mean the materials, energy and resources that went into making them don’t have to be spent again so soon.
It matters more than ever. UK households and businesses discard an estimated two million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment every year, and new EU right-to-repair rules that came into force this summer, giving consumers the right to request manufacturer repair over replacement, are a sign of just how seriously that problem is now being taken.
There’s also something valuable in knowing how to fix things ourselves. Repair builds practical skills, problem-solving and patience, and gives people the confidence to have a go rather than reaching straight for the bin.
One of the things I find most interesting about repair is how often the knowledge behind it passes from one person to another. Many of us remember a parent, grandparent or neighbour who could sew, mend furniture, fix a bicycle or find a way to make something work again, skills that have traditionally moved between generations.
Schools have a real opportunity to help keep that going. Young people don’t need to become expert repairers; understanding how things work, using basic tools safely and having a go at fixing something can change how they see everyday objects. Schools can also connect pupils with people in their local community who have these skills; a repair group, craftsperson, Men’s Shed or family member can all show that repair is practical and achievable.
Repair is a regular part of the conversations we have with pupils through Circular Schools. When we talk about the waste hierarchy, we ask pupils to pause before something becomes waste and consider whether it could be repaired or reused instead of recycled or thrown out.
It’s a habit worth building early. Food makes up 30% of the average household bin in Northern Ireland, and almost a quarter of that could still have been eaten; nearly half of the textiles UK households throw away go straight into general waste rather than being reused or recycled. Small, repeated choices; mending rather than binning, using up rather than throwing out add up.
We saw exactly this thinking in action this year through our first Reuse and Repair Week Schools Competition. Seventeen entries came in from schools taking part in the programme and schools new to the programme, throughout Northern Ireland. Uniform swap shops, whole-school assemblies, and repair and reuse campaigns that often drew in parents and the wider school community. It’s a good sign that the questions we’re asking pupils, can it be fixed? Can someone help me repair it? Could I learn to repair it myself? are starting to stick, and that pupils are as capable of carrying that thinking into initiatives of their own as they are of following a lesson plan.
Our Reuse and Repair Week gave schools a chance to put these ideas into practice and explore the connection between reuse, repair and waste prevention. It’s a useful way of moving the conversation beyond recycling, which, while important, shouldn’t always be the first solution when something is no longer wanted or working. Repair keeps an item in its original use; reuse lets somebody else use it; repurposing gives it a different one. All three get more value from what we already have, and for me, that’s one of the most important messages we can give young people: something doesn’t become worthless just because we’ve finished using it the way it was first intended.
That thinking also sits behind a new resource we’ve developed for the programme: our Waste Prevention Wheel, made for us by Portadown Men’s Shed from materials that were destined for the bin. A wooden pallet and an old cable reel, given a completely new purpose. I like the story behind it as much as the resource itself, because it demonstrates exactly the message we want pupils to take away. This isn’t something new made from new materials, it’s something built by people with practical skills from what was already there. The wheel will be used during Circular Schools sessions to help pupils explore ways of preventing waste before it happens.
Choose one item at home or in school that’s broken or damaged and find out whether it can be repaired. Sewing a button back on, fixing a loose handle, mending a bicycle puncture or a small tear. If you don’t know how, ask someone who does, that’s part of the learning too. Repair doesn’t always mean doing it yourself; sometimes it means knowing who to ask, finding someone locally with the right skills, or supporting a repair service. Schools could turn this into a simple “Repair Before You Replace” challenge, inviting pupils to bring in or share stories of something that’s been given a second life.
International Repair Day is a good reminder that repair skills are worth keeping alive and passing on. For me, the most valuable thing we can give young people isn’t just knowledge about waste, it’s the confidence to think differently about the things around them. A broken item doesn’t always need to become waste. Sometimes it just needs a little time, a practical skill, or someone who knows how to fix it.
I’m looking forward to an event Fermanagh and Omagh District Council are holding for the winner of the Reuse and Repair Week competition, taking place in Enniskillen Town Hall on Monday 28th September.
If your school hasn’t taken part in Reuse and Repair Week or the Circular Schools Programme yet, get in touch, we would love to help your pupils give something a second life too.
Pictured David and Eugene from Portadown Mens Shed
