Sheridan College (Ontario)
IN-2: Innovation 2

In 2014, Sheridan twice hosted Repair Café, an event that promotes waste diversion by conducting repair workshops to counter the use-and-throw mindset. In its monthly gatherings, volunteer ‘fixers’ teach visitors to repair their broken items for free, thus promoting a culture of sustainability. A wide range of items, from clothes to electronics are repaired by the volunteer ‘fixers’, free of charge and in the presence of the owner of the item. In this way, not only is the item repaired but the technical information regarding the repair is imparted to the owner. Repair Café is an international non-profit organization based out of Amsterdam that was established in 2010. Today it has several locations spanning across 15 countries and 4 continents. Repair Café has helped divert several tons of waste from landfills through its unique and simple initiative. Its main objective is to change people’s mindsets towards their possessions and to kindle people’s enthusiasm for a sustainable society. Sheridan became the first post-secondary Canadian institution to host Repair café in April 2014. It was organized by Wai Chu Cheng, Sustainability Coordinator at Sheridan who is also an active volunteer with Repair Café Toronto. The event was held at Sheridan’s Trafalgar Campus at Oakville and saw a healthy turnout comprising of students and faculty. The ‘fixers’ who helped repair items were mostly faculty/staff members with diverse skillsets. The success of the first Repair Café at Sheridan encouraged the organizers to host another one in November 2014. Sheridan’s Davis Campus at Brampton was chosen as the venue this time around, thereby giving the students at the Davis campus a chance to participate. The event was a great success as 23 different items were fixed in a span of three hours. Items ranged from clothing to electronics to kitchen appliances.