Fixing Our Throwaway Economy

Hello! Welcome to the last episode of Copy This (the first season of the Carbon Copy Podcast) where we throw the spotlight on big thinking, local climate action.

When was the last time you tried to get your mobile phone or laptop repaired? Chances are that it was impossible but all too easy to buy a replacement instead. This year, the weight of electronic waste produced globally will equal that of the Great Wall of China because repair is so difficult and obsolescence is built into many electronic goods, by design.

But how is repairing and reuse even possible when the throwaway culture is so deeply rooted in our economy? The Fixing Factory is a new project with a fresh approach that not only makes repair and reuse a reality, it’s also applying lateral thinking so electronic ‘waste’ can benefit local communities in as many ways as possible.

In this episode, Fiona Dear of The Restart Project and Emma Beal of West London Waste Authority describe The Fixing Factory’s drive to not only give broken laptops a new lease of life, but to use them to tackle digital inequality, train the fixers of the future, provide training and employment opportunities, as well as create a project blueprint that could be replicated around the UK.

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