Don't Trash It - Fix It! Orange County hosts Fix-It Fair

ORLANDO, Fl. - Laura Ripley has had her wind-up kitchen timer for years. “I like it,” she said, “it works for me.”

When it stopped working she decided to bring it to Orange County's Fix-It Fair, instead of tossing it away.

“It saves throwing things in to the landfill that don't need to be there,” she said.

In today's consumer culture, it's easy to throw away something that doesn't work.

Orange County is looking to cut down on unnecessary trash and help residents save money by hosting a community repair event.

“Our landfill only has 20 years left to accept trash. So we're trying to find an alternative,” said Aimee Krivan, who works for the county.

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They say that starts here, with volunteer “fixers” offering free minor repairs of common household items, including electronics, bicycles, jewelry, eyeglasses, watches, clothing and more. There were 16 volunteers at the event and organizers expected them to service between 60 and 75 broken items.

Last year, this program won the Pollution Prevention Award from the North American Hazardous Materials Management Association, as well as an award for Most Valuable Pollution Prevention from the National Pollution Prevention Roundtable. Volunteers say people are often surprised what can be fixed.

“Most of the time all it needs is a simple cleaning. WD-40, compressed air, will get things moving along,” said Robert Phillips, a volunteer fixer.

Laura Ripley says they fixed her timer perfectly - maybe next time she'll bring over even more. “I tried to think of something larger and more expensive to have fixed than just my little timer!”

The City of Orlando is hosting the community's next Fix-It Fair, which is set for May 9.