
The organisers of these Restart parties add the following notes and comments:
- The amount of electronic waste produced in the UK each year could fill Wembley Stadium six times over
- Research shows many Londoners are not confident in their ability to make simple electrical repairs to items such as chargers
- Recycle for London and The Restart Project will host an electrical repair workshop in the City of London this Saturday 18th to help residents reduce waste and save cash
Recycle for London and The Restart Project have teamed up for a second time to show City of London residents how to make simple repairs to electrical items as part of a series of 8 Restart Parties across the capital this autumn, helping Londoners save money and reduce waste.
This Saturday’s Restart Party in the City of London’s Barbican is the sixth in the series taking place in various boroughs which have been running since 9th September to early December. The events involve trained volunteers working with Londoners to repair faulty household electrical goods, including kettles, lamps, laptops and printers.
The events aim to tackle the huge amount of electrical items that end up in landfill when they could easily be given a new lease of life. The UK is the world’s fifth highest producer of e-waste, with each person, racking up a whopping 23.5kg on average each year. This produces a combined total large enough to fill Wembley Stadium six times over.
In the past year, London Restart Parties have had a major positive impact on the environment, preventing 970kgs of unnecessary e-waste, and stopping 11,335kg of carbon dioxide from being released.
Surveys conducted at previous Restart events show a lack of DIY confidence amongst many Londoners:
- Just 8% were “extremely” confident in repairing their own electrical items, and almost half (48%) of attendees were only “slightly” or “not at all” confident
- In addition, only 45% could name a trusted local electrical repair service
Ali Moore, Campaign Manager at Recycle for London, said:
“Restart Parties are a great way for Londoners to find out how easy it is to put the spark back into their electrical items, all while having fun and meeting new people. By showing attendees the simple skills they need to repair items, we can help them save both money and the environment. I’d encourage Londoners to dig out any electrical items they’ve been putting off fixing or throwing out, and give them a new lease of life by coming along to their local event.”
Ugo Vallauri, Co-Founder at The Restart Project, added:
“Participants can come away from Restart Parties not only with a repaired item, but also with a sense of achievement, new skills and a changed attitude to broken electronic items. Our research shows that Londoners take great satisfaction from our events; they enjoy the social aspect in a fun atmosphere and feel good that they’re preventing unnecessary waste and saving money by not having to buy new goods.”