Most recently, WEICON has been supporting a repair cafe in Muenster. In this blog post, you’ll find out what exactly a repair cafe is and what we as adhesive specialist have to do with it.
Moving away from a throwaway society: the idea behind repair cafes
The issue of sustainability is omnipresent in today’s media and society. One aspect plays a particularly important role: the responsible use of resources. In order to counteract today’s throwaway mentality and take a stand for a more responsible use of resources, one approach is ‘repairing instead of throwing away‘.
So-called repair cafes have made this approach their motto. Here, people meet up with voluntary experts in order to repair broken items, such as coffee makers, headphones and toys. It’s called ‘cafe‘, as coffe and cake are served in a cosy atmosphere, whenever the repair cafe takes place.
Sustainable thinking at WEICON
With tools in their hand, the voluntary workers and guests stand up for a more sustainable society. And we at WEICON think that is a fantastic idea! We also frequently raise the question: “How can we contribute to a more sustainable society?”
DIY repairs on our blog
Repair products for the industry
That is, of course, just a tiny glimpse of what can be done with our products and obviously, these posts are aimed at private households. Generally, numerous different industries rely on our wide range of repair and maintenance products.
But whether for private households or industrial use, the goal is the same: servicing, maintenance and repair instead of throwing out and replacing. And that doesn’t just apply to cutting boards, but in this context, mainly to machines and systems.
So we already contribute quite a lot to a more sustainable society.
WEICON visits a repair cafe
But back to the initial topic: The idea behind the repair cafe appealed to us so much that we wanted to help – which we did with a product donation!
Most materials and tools are provided by the repair cafes themselves. But the purchase is usually funded by donations.
That is why we decided to pay a visit to one of the repair cafes and to not show up empty-handed: Our colleague Matthias brought a number of different adhesives, sprays and stripping tools, which he presented to the voluntary experts at the repair cafe. One of our products was used straight away: A bike seat stay was successfully bonded with our WEICON RK-7300.
“We are very happy to be able to support such a great cause. Repairing and bonding – that just belongs together”.
The bottom line of our visist
The afternoon at the repair cafe Muenster was great fun! The joint tinkering while eating delicious cake definitely creates a very special atmosphere. And meanwhile, every single participant does something really useful, for themselves as well as for the environment.
We will continue to contribute to this project with product donations. “Over time, we will see which products are particularly in demand among the guests and voluntary experts,” our colleague Matthias says. “We are very happy to be able to support such a great cause. Repairing and bonding – that just belongs together,” Matthias continues.
Three questions for … Michael Bastian and Raimund Jakobsmeyer
Voluntary workers at the repair cafe at the ‘Ska-Treff‘ Muenster
Without voluntary workers, the repair cafe could not be run. Who are all these voluntary helpers?
Michael Bastian: Our voluntary helpers are mainly experts working or having worked as skilled craft professionals. They have different proffessional backgrounds, for example, we have electricians, IT specialists or tailors amongst us. We as experts provide assistance for the guests and show them how to repair a broken item using the right tools. The focus is definitely on repairing something together, not having it repaired by someone else.
The repair cafe in the “Ska-Treff” not only depends on voluntary workers, but also on donations. How exactly does that work?
Raimund Jakobsmeyer: There are three “donation pillars“, if you want. First, our responsible body makes the rooms available for our repair cafe once a month. Second, our guests can make donations to our donation box at the entrance. Last but not least, there are the cake donations. A great lady has been baking the cakes for us for four years, and what can I say? In my opinion, they are the best cakes in the world!
Michael Bastian: Of course, we are also very happy about product donations, like the one from WEICON! There are many repairs that just can’t be done using a hot glue gun. And the WEICON Stripping Tools also come in very handy, as many guests bring defective electronic devices.
How long has the repair cafe been open and what do think, how many items have been saved so far from being thrown away?
Michael Bastian: The repair cafe at the ‘Ska-Treff‘ in Muenster has been taking place once a month for the last five years. And we have never cancelled a date throughout this entire time! Per meeting, we expect approximately 30 repairs. So in five years‘ time, we have done 1,800 repairs and thus saved 1,800 items, which were repaired instead of thrown away and replaced.
