Repair scheme an 'antidote to throwaway culture'

ECAS launches initiative to upcycle unwanted items

Report by BBC Isle of Man.

A new repair and restoration drop-in scheme for items such as furniture and other household items has opened at a recycling and waste centre in the east of the Isle of Man.

The three-month pilot, located at the Eastern Civic Amenity Site (ECAS) in Braddan, is a collaboration between the facility and local charities Live at Home and Northern Men in Sheds - an initiative seeking to reduce male loneliness on the island.

The scheme will attempt to repair old furniture, household items and garden tools, with electrical items possibly included in future.

Those behind the venture said it was an "antidote to the throwaway culture" of modern life on the island.

The sheds located at the ECAS have previously housed a similar scheme where residents could find and reuse items destined for the scrap heap.

The new initiative would see photographs of items left at the site sent to the volunteers to determine if they could be repaired or restored.

A decorative metal bench with turquoise paint that is peeling off the back rest. It is placed on some gravel, with a shed in the background.

Run by Douglas Council, the ECAS is managed by a Joint Committee of five local authorities - Onchan, Douglas, Braddan, Garff, and Santon.

Committee chairman and Garff commissioner Tim Kenyon said the new scheme built on the previous success of the similar initiative at the site.

"At a committee meeting, members were discussing its popularity and felt it lends itself to running a venture similar to the Repair Shop concept, which is a sustainable antidote to the throwaway culture," he said.

Karen Winter of the Live at Home scheme, which runs the Men in Sheds projects, said there was "genuine excitement" after a expression of interest for skilled craftspeople to work as part of the initiative was announced earlier this year.

"When the ECAS committee invited organisations or individuals to express interest in providing such a service, our members did not hesitate to step forward," she said.

"The facility is a fantastic way to reduce waste and repurpose items - saving tonnes from being unnecessarily disposed of.

"Sometimes items simply need a lick of paint or some basic repair work."

The scheme would enable items with "remaining reuse value" to be restored and "given a new lease of life", which was both environmentally responsible and socially beneficial, she added.