Discover how you can repair your valued items and give them a new lease on life at our Repair and Reuse Community Day on Saturday 23 November.
Visit the Boroondara Civic Precinct (in the Parkview Room next to Camberwell Library) between 10 am and 2 pm, where you can:
- learn how to fix your clothes, jewellery, and household items by attending workshops
- talk to local businesses
- get free bike tune-ups and household product refills
- enjoy a complimentary coffee if you bring your own cup
- take part in sustainable craft activities, such as creating Christmas-themed decorations.
Help support our local repair economy and guarantee your spot by registering below. Walk-ins are also welcome on the day.
This event is part of our Living for our Future program, which is supported by our Climate Action Plan. You can find more events on our Sustainable living workshops and events page.
Activities and stalls
Coffee
Bring a reusable cup for a free coffee on us.
Cleaning samples
We’re offering free samples of eco-friendly hand and body wash, laundry liquid or dishwashing liquid to place in your reusable jars. There’s a 500 ml limit per person.
Learn to mend clothing or make your own produce bag
Learn to mend your clothes at our mending circle with A Fitting Connection.
No sewing skills are needed. All materials and tools are provided. You just need to bring your item to be repaired.
We’ll also be running a craft session where you can make your own produce bag from repurposed fabric.
Learn to maintain your bike
If you have an old bike and you're not sure if it's safe to ride, bring it in for a free safety check, tune-up and repair from Dr Cranky.
Learn how to patch up an inner tube and reuse it rather than throw it out. Also you can find out how to donate old bikes to BrainWave Bikes or Dr Cranky.
On the day we will be accepting children’s bikes in good working condition for primary school aged children.
Trial reusable nappies
Learn about the different reusable nappy options and view samples from The Nappy Project.
While supplies last, you can take home free, second-hand reusable nappies that are in good condition.
You can also enter the draw to win a brand new reusable nappy pack.
Fix your own jewellery
Discover the creative world of upcycling and fixing jewellery.
Bring your broken jewellery to repair, mend or update. Emma Grace will help you learn basic repair techniques and create your own unique, sustainable jewellery.
Take home a pre-loved item
Stop by and say hello to Boroondara Hard Rubbish Rehome (BHHR), who’ll be gifting some high-quality, pre-loved items.
BHHR rescues good-quality items from hard rubbish and gives them a second life. They recently received the Volunteer Program Innovation Award as part of our Volunteer Awards.
It’s a great opportunity to chat to the team and discover more about:
- making use of pre-loved items
- keeping items in use and out of landfill
- the circular economy (reusing, repairing, refurbishing and recycling products for as long as possible).
Hire toys
Talk to the Canterbury Toy Library or Kew Toy Library team about borrowing from thousands of toys for children aged 0-12 for all abilities.
Recyclable materials
Many items can be reused and recycled, but not through your kerbside recycling bin. Bring the following items along with you to reduce the load on your rubbish bin and help make a difference.
Reusable items to bring:
- advertising fridge magnets
- beer clips
- unmatched containers (lids and bottoms)
- glasses and hearing aids
- unrepairable clothes (in small, household quantities).
Recycling items to bring:
- dental care items (manual and electric toothbrushes, empty toothpaste tubes, dental floss containers, pick flosses)
- empty makeup and skin-care containers
- plastic bread tags
- used razors
- corks.
Thanks to the following teams for helping us repurpose and recycle items on the day:
- Kew East Community Recycling
- Packshare Australia
- Project Pair Up
- The Ashy Eco Hub
- Fitting Connection
- Upcycle4better
Repair cafes
Learn about the role repair cafés play in helping our community fix and reuse faulty and broken items as their first option.
Make fabric Christmas decorations
Volunteers from Threads of Kindness will demonstrate creative ways to reuse leftover fabric to make festive Christmas-themed items, like wreaths and bunting.
Take home a book
Our Libraries team will be giving away old or slightly damaged books to our community. You’re welcome to bring a bag and take some home with you.
Participate in a craft activity
There’ll be a paper craft activity, as well as a space to create recycled book planters as a Christmas craft project.
Visit stallholders on the day
Alamein Neighbourhood and Learning Centre
Getting here
The main entrance can be reached from both Camberwell Road and Reserve Road. There’s a pathway or stepped entrance leading to the main building
- Bike parking: is available at the front of Camberwell Library.
- Train: Camberwell station (Lilydale, Belgrave and Alamein lines) is 1 km away.
- Tram: Route 75 stops at the front of the library. Use stop number 43, Camberwell Civic Centre.
- Bus route: 612 stops near the front of the library. Depending on direction, use the stop at Camberwell Civic Centre/Camberwell Road or Reserve Road/Camberwell Road.
- Free parking: is available on Inglesby Road with 15-minute, one-hour and 2-hour limits, including disabled parking spaces.
- Paid parking: is available on Camberwell Road with one- and 2-hour limits.
How you can help the environment
In 2022-23, over 60,000 tonnes of materials were collected from kerbside bins in Boroondara. Out of this, 44,000 tonnes were diverted from landfill for recycling or repurposing.
The simple way to look after our environment, send less waste to landfill and keep material in circulation for longer is to reuse, repair and recycle.
More information
Please contact our Environmental Sustainability & Open Spaces team on 9278 4444 or via [email protected].