A Visit to Carlsbad's Fix-It Clinic

0:00 [background noise] -We're at the Georgina Cole Library

0:05 in Carlsbad at the San Diego Fix-it Clinic.

0:08 Fix-it Clinic is a pop-up repair event where

0:11 neighbors come in that are skilled at fixing things,

0:15 helping other neighbors fix their broken stuff.

0:18 [background noise] -It's amazing what comes in.

0:24 We fix small appliances, electronics, textiles, furniture.

0:29 We're sharpening tools.

0:30 We're doing bicycles.

0:32 My philosophy is, let's try.

0:34 We don't know if we can fix everything.

0:35 There's a 73% repair rate because things cannot be fixed,

0:39 but we don't really turn things away.

0:41 [background noise] -Why can't people just take it to a repair shop?

0:46 -[laughs] We don't have repair shops.

0:50 -Can I ask what the issue is with the lamp?

0:52 -Well, there's something wrong with the socket.

0:55 This is the original socket, and it's very old.

1:00 It comes from Frederick Cooper Lamp Company in Chicago.

1:05 -How long has it been broken, do you think?

1:07 -Oh, 20 years.

1:09 -It's a reaction, actually, of the disposal society as well.

1:12 Everyone thinks, "Oh, I just can get rid of it and not think

1:15 about it again," but we do not have the repair.

1:18 We're losing that skillset.

1:19 We do not have anybody in the community to do

1:22 that, but I would love to see them here.

1:25 -I brought in this Predator generator,

1:27 and we bought it probably six years ago from Costco.

1:31 We thought we needed an emergency generator.

1:34 We used it about three times, and then it wouldn't start.

1:38 -Good shape on oil.

1:39 I'm suspecting it's probably just got some bad fuel in it from sitting

1:43 for a while because that tends to happen with these kind of devices.

1:47 We're going to go through and check everything out.

1:49 I'm going to check the oil.

1:50 It's got an oil pressure switch.

1:51 Make sure there's plenty of oil in it,

1:52 and then we'll start working on figuring out the fuel situation.

1:56 -We don't like throwing out anything into the landfill,

1:59 and so the Fix-it Clinic was announced,

2:02 and we live really close by, so we thought,

2:05 "We'll give that a shot." -My favorite part

2:07 about the Fix-it community and clinics is the volunteers,

2:10 because we have these people who have so much knowledge and experience,

2:16 and they want to share it.

2:18 I know for a fact that's why people keep coming back,

2:21 because the experience they have with our volunteers.

2:24 -You can basically buy a whole piece here- -Oh, really?

2:28 --to replace it.

2:29 Yes, because this is quite beautiful and in beautiful shape.

2:33 -My volunteers are a senior generation.

2:35 I call them the "remember when" generation because they

2:37 remember when there were repair shops available in their community,

2:40 and they're not there.

2:42 We are trying to tell people, just try.

2:45 You don't always have to go and buy a new one.

2:47 You don't have to have the best and the highest thing.

2:49 You can keep the things that you like.

2:50 It's not just things.

2:51 These are your favorite things.

2:53 It's not just stuff either.

2:54 This is family.

2:55 This is culture.

2:56 This is heritage.

2:57 -It's currently going through the coil and up through here.

2:59 -Yes, but not on this.

3:00 -Not on that one.

3:01 -That's what I think is the biggest joy, is seeing their aha moment,

3:06 that, "Oh, that's not hard to do at all.

3:11 I could do that." Then that gets them thinking that things

3:16 aren't just to be thrown away when they don't work.

3:19 -Now we can try to disconnect it from that side also.

3:23 -It has dowels on this side as well.

3:25 -Exactly, yes.

3:25 That's why that part broke, you see.

3:28 -Right at the two points.

3:30 -Yes.

3:30 -When we sit across from you fixing,

3:32 we're not just sitting there fixing, we're educating.

3:35 We're being ambassadors to repair.

3:38 We're helping your curiosity.

3:39 We're trying to hope that you learn something that day.

3:44 I've always fixed things myself.

3:46 It's just part of my family and what I grew up with.

3:49 I think other people missed out on that from maybe grandparents

3:52 or parents who were too busy working or were out of state.

3:56 Now they have a chance to come and learn

3:59 from men and women of all different ages.

4:02 We've got teenagers that are 16 over there that show up every weekend.

4:06 We have fixers that are 85 years old coming

4:08 in to share their knowledge to keep that going.

4:11 -I'm one of the bike guys.

4:13 That's what I come and do.

4:16 I've been working on building bikes for 30 years.

4:20 I do it not professionally.

4:22 I'm a retired scientist.

4:24 I like playing with bikes.

4:28 It's just a great thing.

4:29 You help people out in the community, and it feels good.

4:33 -Oh, it's great, man.

4:34 It brings the community back a little bit.

4:37 It's like a lot of people don't know their neighbors anymore.

4:41 I was born in the '80s, classic generation and all that.

4:45 We used to have nice stuff back then.

4:47 It's not the same anymore.

4:49 You can't fix the new stuff.

4:51 It's all just— -Disposable.

4:55 -Yes.

4:56 -What I'm going to do is I'm going to take out the mechanism.

5:01 -One of the big problems that we have,

5:03 however, is what's called this right to repair.

5:06 A lot of, especially electronic devices, are not really meant to be repaired.

5:12 For instance, right on your phones, or your laptops, or your tablet computers,

5:17 the cases are glued together instead of using screws or mechanical fasteners.

5:24 Because of that, it becomes very,

5:26 very difficult to get them apart without breaking something.

5:30 That just prevents people from wanting to fix them.

5:34 -We brought in a couple of sweatshirt jackets that we

5:37 didn't want to throw away because my husband really likes them.

5:40 The zippers both broke.

5:41 The jackets are still good.

5:43 Luckily, he's working his magic.

5:45 I think it's amazing.

5:46 I think it's great that they're promoting recycling,

5:50 reusing, mending, not throwing things away,

5:53 switching up daily habits so that you're

5:56 basically making the earth a better place.

5:58 -We're going to take you over to Greg and Dave.

6:02 I do believe they'll have the right tools for you.

6:05 -I brought some things, too.

6:06 -Oh, what'd you bring?

6:08 -I brought a rubber mallet.

6:10 -Oh, I love this.

6:12 [laughs] -I brought this because this is what I was using to shimmy it open.

6:17 -Just our fix-it clinic here in San Diego, we've diverted over,

6:20 I think it's 9,500 pounds of trash this year.

6:24 Just this year.

6:25 That's not even our other metric.

6:26 If we replicate this across the country, in every city,

6:32 how much would we be diverting from landfills?

6:36 How much money would we be saving our neighbors?

6:39 How many connections would we have made?

6:41 How much knowledge would we have spread?

6:44 How much joy would there be out there?

6:46 -Thanks for watching.

6:47 If this story helped you see things from a different angle,

6:50 tell us what you think in the comments.

6:52 Stick around for the next video.

6:53 I think you're going to love it.