In a culture built around quick, easy disposal, the items we use every day are cheap and easy to replace. But there’s a movement changing the way people think about their toss-away items. Since 2018, the Snohomish County WSU Extension program has been helping residents rediscover how to reclaim the power of their belongings while saving money and helping the planet, to boot.
The program schedule hosts a string of monthly pop-up Repair Cafés all over the area. They’re held in public spaces such as community centers, colleges, and libraries. In these places, a group of talented volunteers with specialized knowledge and a passion to fix broken things show up to help the community for a fun morning of conversation and satisfying wins.
Find Expert Help at Snohomish County’s Repair Cafés
“We have a myriad of skill sets and expertise,” says program coordinator Kellee Byard, who has been in charge of the Repair Café for three years. “Typically [the repair specialists] already have the skills, and they’re interested in giving back to the community and finding a community through volunteerism.”
Everyone on the repair team has a specialty, ranging from sewing and mechanics to sewing machines, electronics, and appliance repairs. They partner with Sharing Wheels in Everett, which sends volunteers to the events to fix bicycles.
The repair specialists fix everything: vacuum cleaners, Bluetooth speakers, quilts, zippers, broken toasters, bicycles, blenders, jewelry, computer software, watches, furniture, just about everything, and anything that can break can also be fixed. People line up with their items to meet with kind volunteers who enjoy the company and community of spending time together tinkering and restoring gadgets.
Some are passed down from previous generations, and some are just broken. One woman recently brought in a broken Smeg Dolce & Gabbana tea kettle valued at around $700. The repair specialists fixed it.
“We often talk about this work in terms of the circular economy,” says Byard. The goal of the program is “to encourage people to reuse and repair things instead of just thinking it’s broken, we’ve got to throw it away.”
Fixing Meaningful Things
The items fixed are often sentimental. “People bring in heirlooms or items that really matter to them, and when those get fixed, it’s incredibly meaningful,” says Byard.
She describes one of her favorite fixes as an antique lamp missing a shade. The repair volunteers merged the lamp with a unique shade, creating a beautiful, new, sculpture-like creation.
“We fixed over 500 items in 2025,” says Byard. “That’s 2,026 pounds of items and goods, in one year alone.” These are only the measured successes of the WSU program.
Residents bring home practical skills while rethinking what it takes to fix their own items first before getting rid of them. Repair teams often reference a database called iFixit, which provides step-by-step manuals, repair guides, and hard-to-find parts. This resource is freely available to everyone and helps make repairs more accessible while reducing the need for replacements. YouTube is also a valuable resource for finding guided instructions on how to fix anything.
Worldwide Repair Cafés
The idea of repair cafés was first born in the Netherlands in 2009 by a journalist named Martine Postma. She started the first repair café to expand sustainability options for her community. The café was a huge success, which prompted her to start the Repair Café International Foundation. The foundation has become wildly successful. Repair cafés can now be found across 35 countries, including multiple cities throughout the United States. The foundation helps support anyone who wishes to begin their own café.
“It’s bigger than just us,” Byard says. “We’re part of this broader, statewide movement.”
The repair-and-reuse concept is found across Washington, from cities to rural communities. The Snohomish County WSU Extension program hosts official Repair Café events affiliated with the international movement originating in the Netherlands. But many similar repair events take place across the state under different names. Together, they form a broader repair-and-reuse ecosystem supported by state partners and are listed on the Repair Economy Washington website.
Finding Community at Repair Hubs
Community repair hubs also bring the community together. People often have to wait for their items to be reviewed by specialists. “They talk with each other and chat with the repair volunteers,” says Byard.
She describes her favorite story from a Snohomish event. A woman asked if Byard knew where she could attend classes to obtain her GED. Another woman in the room overheard the question and happened to work for Everett Community College. She arranged for the lady seeking help to enroll in a GED program.
“When you come together, it’s an interesting hub of community,” says Byard. You never know who you will meet or which unexpected questions will find answers.
The Sustainable Community Stewards Program — administered through WSU Extension — also runs multiple other educational programs, including recycling events for materials that aren’t accepted in curbside bins, such as Styrofoam and electronic waste. They offer webinars and workshops on sustainability, composting, gardening, water conservation and renewable energy.
Keep an eye on the WSU Extension website for workshops offered throughout the year. Upcoming sessions will focus on clothing repair and basic hand-sewing techniques. These workshops will be added in response to the high number of garments brought in for repair at recent Repair Café events. Find the upcoming Repair Café schedule here.
