🔧 Right-To-Repair
Right-to-repair refers to a movement where people are fighting worldwide for the right to continue to repair products the we own, as well as for the right for us to choose who repairs them.
“The right to repair refers to proposed government legislation to forbid manufacturers from imposing barriers that deny consumers the ability to repair and modify their own consumer products.” | Wikipedia
Why Right-To-Repair is Needed
- Planned Obsolescence: companies are purposely building their products to break faster, so you have to pay to replace them sooner.
- Unfixable Products: some products will have their components soldered, glued, or riveted, to stop people from being able to repair.
- Brand-Specific Parts: These parts may cost more than buying a new product. As well as that, some companies refuse to let independent repair technicians purchase their parts to try and force costumers to only use the product company for repairs.
- Restrictive Programing. For these, the programs refuse to let you fix your own products (a large example of this happens to farm equipment, where farmers have to hack their own equipment if they want to repair on their own).
How to Help
- Join right-to-repair movements in your area
- Support organizations like iFixIt, Repair Clinic, Repair Cafe and Farm Hack.
- Consider buying repair-friendly products, like the Fairphone.