We fix roughly 40% of devices at Restart Parties at the first go. Another 5% go home “DIY ready”.
But what about the 55% of devices that remain “unrepaired” – what to do? Sometimes our Restarters refer people to commercial repairers for help – that is the preferred option as we need to stimulate the commercial repair economy. Restart Parties are meant to do precisely this.
If unwilling to spend money or time, then device owners should ask themselves
Does this device need (realistic) repair but I simply can’t be bothered?
If the repair is unrealistic and expensive, does this device have valuable parts?
If yes to either, REUSE is the preferred option. It is worth trying to sell your device especially if it has valuable parts. If you sell it via Ebay, you can even decide to donate part or all of the proceeds to The Restart Project. (We do not take donations of broken stuff.)
If the device or appliance is commonplace and cheap to buy new, don’t bother trying to sell it. There are people who will collect non-functioning devices, especially if you share information from your Restarter about what has failed. Try Freecycle, Freegle or Streetbank.
If curious, you might also try your local hackspace, makerspace or community computer refurbisher to see if they are in need of your broken gadget for parts.
**Before parting with a device containing personal data in this way, device owners need to properly wipe data from it. There is loads of advice online how to do this. Sometimes it is quite easy and other times it is harder.**
Is the answer no to the questions above?
Am I so heartbroken and tired that I want to bin it?
Wait a minute! It’s time to RECYCLE. Electronic waste is extremely toxic and should NEVER go to landfill. (Recycling recoups some of the raw materials in our electronics, but not all and especially not rare earths.)
You actually paid for the recycling of your device at purchase. We could try and explain but the system is based on complex EU legislation.
All you need to know is: in the UK local authorities oversee electronics recycling.
Recycle Now has an easy postcode locator for e-waste or “WEEE” collection points – so now there are no excuses. Why not take the kids so they can learn?
If we try to fix unrepaired electronics, we should see to it that the cost of repair is efficient because its very impractical to spend for repair almost the price of getting new one.