Fight to Repair Weekly: Week of November 21, 2022
Will Apple get rid of iPhone ports altogether due to new EU law? Also: it's Thanksgiving - how to talk to your family and loved ones about Right to Repair!
Podcast: Resisting Garbage with Lily Baum Pollans
We return for season two with Lily Baum Pollans, the author of Resisting Garbage to teach us that how we treat our trash matters!
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How to talk to your family + loved ones about right to repair
With a holiday season upon us here in the United States, there’s a good chance you will spend time chatting with your family and loved ones. When your cousin brings up their love of cryptocurrency and you need to pivot out of the conversation, feel free to deflect by indoctrinating them into the cult of repair. Here’s how to do it:
Make it understandable: If you can connect right to repair to someone on a personal level, they will be much more willing to engage with the topic.
People don’t care about policy: If you start bringing up the government or politics off the bat, you’re gonna have a bad time. Talk about some positive experiences about repair, or maybe some companies that support repair that you like.
Cheat sheet:
Car lovers = Auto repair - it’s your car. You should be able to service it!
Tech-y = Electronics repair - everyone can do it!
Politically-minded = Oppose monopoly power!
Environmentalist = Lets build circular economies that reduce consumption + waste!
Cheap = Throwing away perfectly good stuff is wasteful. Plus: you save money when you repair!
Other News
Same-day iPhone 14 repairs: MacRumors obtained a memo that shows “Apple Stores and Apple Authorized Service Providers around the world are now able to complete same-unit repairs for all four iPhone 14 models, instead of having to replace the entire device”.
Malicious compliance: Marques Brownlee believes that the European Union’s USB-C standardization will likely lead Apple to remove ports, opting instead for wireless charging.
India to create online repair portal: India’s government is preparing a “unified national portal” housing information on how citizens can access repairs for their electronics devices.
Tax monopolies to save small businesses: A new report shows how local and federal lawmakers have handed corporations power while small businesses deeply connected to their communities have been left out to dry.
DIY solution to rising energy costs: A DIYer begs the question: with inflation and higher energy costs, what’s the cheapest way to brew a cup of tea (or coffee)?
Do companies know best on safety?: Reports have surfaced that the Consumer Production Safety Commission has issued a warning on the company OneWheel.
Don’t take our word for it – listen to Louis Rossman on the company’s practices.
What’s stopping repair in Canada? Researchers have found three key barriers to repairable products:
Consumer perceptions and willingness to participate in repair activities;
Availability of tools, parts, and technical knowledge to execute repairs; and
Technical barriers inherent to the products themselves.
Events, Resources, and Opportunities
Call for speakers: Seattle for Circularity 23 is looking for speakers to discuss “building a just, resilient world that operates within planetary boundaries, we must transform our systems, structures and strategies.”
