Tip #10 Repairing

Green Living: a series in which we provide tips to help you implement practices, habits, and products into your life which respect and work towards the redemption of God’s creation.

I don’t know about you, but I try to be really careful with my possessions, especially technology. Sometimes it seems, though, that no matter how hard you try we have a knack of damaging or breaking our things.

You know what I’m talking about. You buy that protective cover for your cell phone or MP3 player and are always careful with it. But then one day, one lapse in judgment on the one time the cover is off, you stand up to get out of the car and it falls to the ground.

Or you drop your laptop?

Or you kick over a lamp?

Or you drop something in the toilet?

Or some beverage spills all over a piece of furniture?

Admit it. We’ve all been there.

Now, we live in a society that tends to throw these broken or damaged items away without a second thought. At the first sign of trouble we open the trash. The problem with this is not only that many of these items come at a high monetary cost but that they come at a high environmental cost as well. Each of these items takes valuable resources which must be collected, manufactured, packaged, shipped, and (later) disposed of.

But there are alternatives. First, there are repairmen. Coming in different varieties, they are experienced in fixing everything from your washing machine, to your TV, to your couch, to your home. But, unfortunately they are a dying breed. Even the manufacturers often choose to replace your broken item with a new one as it is more cost effective for them to do that than fix it. That said, it is still possible to get things repaired.

Second, you can fix things yourself. That’s right. No, you don’t have to be an engineer or a rocket scientist to do this. Oftentimes you just have to be able to follow instructions and be bold enough to give it a shot.

How do you do this? Well, there are numerous websites (list below) out there to help you find what you need. Visit one of these sites or just google “how to fix [your problem]” for other resources that might come up. Then, follow their step-by-step instructions guiding your to a newly working product.

The following is a list of a few of the many sites out there that can help you with repairing your broken items:

Instructables

iFixit

eHow

wikiHow

HowToDoThings

Just recently my wife accidently dropped her cell phone. Afterwards it would randomly decide to turn itself off on a whim. Turns out the battery was no longer fit as tightly and would briefly lose the connection, shutting off the phone. A little ingenuity has allowed the phone to work like new. What did I do? Just folded up part of a piece of scrap paper and squeezed it in tight to hold the battery in place. Simple as that. Whereas we might have gone in to get her a new phone or something, a quick and free solution allows us to better care for God’s creation.

Next time one of you possessions breaks, I encourage you to think twice before disposing of it. Perhaps it too can be saved.

*Image from

Also consider:

Green Living: #2 Reuse your booty

Beauty of Creation: Lily pads

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