Repair Cafes Push Fix-First Culture Over Throwaway Norms

Repair Cafes and the broader right-to-repair movement are gaining momentum as communities opt to fix rather than replace broken goods. Volunteers in New Paltz, like Paula Weinstein and Bob Morton, illustrate repair’s social and educational value by reviving items such as a 1930s Hammond clock, while lawmakers push for laws and tool libraries to require manufacturers to share repair tools and instructions, promoting longer product lifespans and cheaper, DIY-enabled fixes.