campaign

book and zine campaign update#1

That ‘is a wrap’. In total, 258 books and zines posted to councils, local authorities and devolved government departments. Copies are also going to contributors and collaborators.

As previously indicated, the aim has been to do this and keep the overall footprint and impact small. All parcels hand delivered to my local Post Office.

The plan is to distribute a large number of the act now zines at FixFest 2023, in Cardiff, in September. Fixfest is a regular global gathering of repairers and tinkerers, activists, policy-makers, thinkers, educators and companies from all over the world.  Many community repairers will be present. They will get a free copy of the zine and the option to take copies for local distribution via their repair events.

The campaign tracks the distribution, receipt, email sent and follow up. Information on capabilities and support provided by councils and local authorities will also be captured.

This supports identifying good practices and hopefully pointing to more solutions and case studies.

Regular campaign updates will be provided. Later, copies of the worksheet / database will be made more widely available.

act now

In the UK, councils and local authorities provide our best opportunity to make a meaningful improvements in repair and reuse capability; at least until we have a proper ‘right to repair’.

unbroken.solutions is starting a campaign to encourage greater support, by using a combination of exhibitions and a photobook and ‘zines’ to engage local councils and the public.

unbroken.solutions ‘pop-up’ exhibition at Hackney Sustainability Day in July 2023.

Some councils have already helped provide some funding, or access to facilities, or signposted community repair as an option. Examples such as Share and Repair in Bath, Re:Make Newport and the Fixing Factory in Camden show that community repair can be on the high street. This makes it more visible and available to many more people. But we can do much more.

The first part of the campaign is to distribute a photo book to 260 major councils and waste authorities in the UK. The photo book documents the impact and many solutions from across the world.

The ask is simple: to do more to support repair and reuse. The act now page on this site provides additional links to resources to support this.

In combination with the unbroken.solutions photobook an act now ‘zine’ has been produced to distribute via the community repair network, to the public, asking them to request more local solutions and capability.

Both the book and the zine have been produced in the UK to reduce environmental impact, using printers with strong eco-credentials and an ISO14001 environmental management system, designed to minimise manufacturing waste and using Carbon Neutral and FSC chain of custody sources of paper and card.

The campaign will distribute both the books and the zines over the next few months and encourage councils and the public to provide examples of action.