Somerset Council is urging people in Burnham and Highbridge to ‘think about fixing’ electrical items rather than throwing them away as they gear up for the festive season.
The council is encouraging residents to use the two Burnham and Highbridge repair cafes that have launched this year.
Burnham-On-Sea Repair Café will next be held on Thursday 7th December from 10am-1pm at The Waffle Hub, Methodist Church, 35A College St, Burnham-On-Sea.
Highbridge Repair Cafe will next be held from 10am-1pm on Saturday December 16th at the Purple Spoon Café, The YMCA, Huntspill Road, Highbridge.
The council says: “Think ahead and check your festive electricals – whether it’s fairy lights or neon Santas – before you put them up. If faults do occur, Somerset has a thriving network of repair groups which may be able to help.”
“There are repair groups in Burnham and Highbridge plus across the county, run by skilled volunteers who can turn their hand to fixing many different things.”
“Skills vary from group to group depending on volunteers, but often include electrical, mechanical, sewing repairs as well as general gluing and sticking. Some also offer repairs for bicycles, jewellery, and more.”
If your items are beyond repair, or you are not going to keep them, make sure to sustainably dispose of them. Options include:
- Recycle at the kerbside. Small electricals should be put in a carrier bag and left in your recycling boxes with your weekly collection.
- Larger electricals should be recycled and taken to a local recycling site – or request a bulky collection online or use a retailer’s take back scheme when replacing.
- Unwanted smart tech can be donated for reuse to DonateIT – via drop off points – or hand to Fixy at eat: Taunton festival or other events it will be attending in the coming months. DonateIT will data wipe before repairing what they can, or securely recycle anything that cannot be reused.
Cllr Dixie Darch adds: “Repairing broken items is a sustainable and cost-effective option for residents and promoting and support the county’s network of repair groups is part of what we can do to help Somerset become a greener, more sustainable county.”
“The dedication of these volunteers has prevented many items from going to waste. It’s great to see a thriving network of groups in every corner of the county.”
“If your items are beyond repair, or if you are not going to keep them, make sure to sustainably dispose of them.”
It comes as, according to Material Focus’ ‘Recycle your electricals’ campaign, millions of people admit to throwing away Christmas fairy lights when they are broken.
