Mend-It-Cafe

Mend-It Cafe exists to reduce textile waste and reestablish value and respect for the resources and labor that go into creating fabric and making clothing, bedding, drapery and other textiles. Mend-It also addresses the ever increasing amount of synthetics used in fast fashion. These are petroleum based materials that become microplastics in the air, water and soil.

The repair cafe model was created by Martine Postma, a former journalist who was looking for ways to reduce the amount of items heading to landfill and “striving for sustainability at the local level” The first repair cafe took place in 2009 in Amsterdam. Today there are over 2500 repair cafes world-wide addressing all manner of waste from small appliances to furniture and textiles. How it works:

People are invited to bring clothing and textiles in need of repair. They will be paired up with a mender who will fix the item(s) at no charge. Mend-It Cafe also offers a U-Mend-It station where an expert mender will walk you through the steps to mend your item yourself.

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