Give your devices a second life on the Earth Day Repair Fair

Local restore specialists and members of the Cornell and Ithaca reuse group will as soon as once more collect within the Gates Hall foyer for the fourth annual Earth Day Repair Fair, happening Wednesday, April 22, 4–6 p.m. The occasion invitations college students, employees, school and native residents to carry damaged or growing older electronics for fingers‑on troubleshooting, restore and accountable recycling.

From laptops and desktops to keyboards, headphones and something with a twine, volunteers shall be available to diagnose points, train fundamental restore abilities and assist prolong the lifetime of on a regular basis gadgets. Attendees can study alongside repairers or just drop off gadgets for evaluation.

Organized by the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science in partnership with the Cornell Computer Reuse Association (CCRA), Cornell’s Campus Sustainability Office, Sustainable Computing Working Group, R5 and Ithaca ReUse, the honest goals to cut back digital waste whereas empowering group members to higher perceive and preserve their know-how.

“People often assume a device is dead when it just needs a small fix,” stated organizers of final yr’s occasion, which drew regular foot site visitors all through the afternoon. “The fair helps demystify technology and shows how repair can extend the life of everyday electronics.”

Over the previous three years, the occasion has helped hold vital quantities of know-how in circulation. Volunteers have repaired or saved greater than 30 desktop computer systems and laptops, restored greater than 15 displays and recovered numerous cords and chargers. They have additionally donated roughly 100 laptops, keyboards and mice for reuse, and diverted greater than 500 kilos of e‑waste from landfills.

This yr’s honest will once more function restore stations for a variety of small electronics. Devices that can not be repaired on-site shall be accepted for reuse or accountable recycling by way of CCRA.

A laptop computer teardown demonstration – certainly one of final yr’s hottest options – will return, providing attendees a glance inside a regular machine and highlighting frequent factors of failure. The occasion may even showcase scholar work from INFO 4260: Computing On Earth, a category taught by Steven Jackson, professor of knowledge science and science & know-how research and Vice Provost for Academic Innovation that examines the environmental impacts of computing from sourcing and extraction to vitality and water to waste and restore.

Globally, digital waste continues to rise, reaching an estimated 62 million tons in 2022 – a determine projected to climb to 82 million tons by 2030. Events just like the Repair Fair provide an area response to this rising problem by selling restore tradition, decreasing landfill waste, and inspiring extra sustainable relationships with know-how.

The occasion is free and open to the general public.