The Community Repair Fair was held from 10a.m. to 2p.m. on Saturday, October 4 in the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at Hatfield Marine Science Center. Led by Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) and the Hatfield Innovation Lab (iLab), this free community event was open to the public and was powered largely by local volunteers. Community members were encouraged to bring their broken household items to be fixed for free! The event also featured repair demonstrations, hands-on upcycling activities, and waste prevention strategies. In addition to 8 OSG and iLab staff, 30 volunteers served as Expert Fixers, exhibitors, and/or general event helpers.
While this event was 2 hours shorter than last year’s inaugural Repair Fair, the number of attendees and items brought in was higher than 2024! 78 people attended and brought 138 items for assessment and repair. Of these, 76% of the items were fixed at the event. An additional 10% of the items were marked as a repair “in progress”, with many owners leaving with information that could help them advance progress on their repair at home.
A wide variety of items were brought to the event. The most popular area visited was fabric repair (31% handled by six fixers), followed closely by iLab stations for mechanical, electrical, and wood repairs (27% handled by seven fixers). The third most popular station was blade sharpening (24%), and that was just one Expert Fixer.
About half of the volunteers and attendees who participated in Saturday’s event filled out an Exit Survey to share their experiences and feedback. Comments will be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the event and to gain ideas to improve future events. General feedback and event photos will soon be shared on the Repair Fair webpage.
The 2025 Community Repair Fair is part of the Oregon Coalition to Combat Marine Debris project, which is funded by a NOAA community coalition grant awarded to Oregon Sea Grant. Primary partners included the HMSC Innovation Lab and the HMSC Green Team. Tabling organizations included the OSU Ecotox and Environmental Stress Lab, Thompson’s Sanitary Service, Oceana Natural Foods Co-op, and the OSU Waste Watchers club. Volunteer Expert Fixers included a host of local individuals and business owners, including 101 Sharpening and Cutting Edge Canvas.
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