Town and ecoCaledon Celebrate Waste Reduction Week with Repair Cafe

October 30, 2025 · 0 Comments

By Riley Murphy

Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

ecoCaledon hosted its ninth repair cafe this past weekend in collaboration with the Town of Caledon’s Energy and Environment Team to celebrate Waste Reduction Week.

Lucrezia Chiappetta, co-chair of ecoCaledon, says that this event was supported by the Climate Action Fund grant they received from the Town.

This event allowed participants to bring in broken items, and skilled volunteer fixers worked with them to repair them.

Their team of fixers included community volunteers with diverse backgrounds.

Chiappetta shared that on that day, they had 14 fixers, some with backgrounds in certain repairs and some “just like to tinker” with electronics, sewing, darning, and more.

That day, they were also sharpening knives and repairing bikes.

Even those who didn’t have a broken item still enjoyed the event, which featured various information booths, activities, and products from local groups, including presentations from local schools such as Southfield Village Public School and Caledon East Public School.

Chiappetta shared that the schools were displaying their own Climate Action Fund projects.

“It’s a Repair Cafe, but at the same time, it’s meant to focus on sustainability as a whole and it being Circular Economy Month and Waste Reduction Week, we really want to promote sustainability to the Caledon community,” she says.

She says that only an hour into the event, their fixers had already been busy with 30 knife sharpenings, fixing lamps and fans, and numerous clothes to be stitched.

For Chiappetta, she says it’s about talking to people.

“Learning what they’re up to, what actions they’re taking, no matter how big or small. If we all do our part then that’s how we make a big difference,” she says.

Christine Millar has been a volunteer fixer with the Repair Cafe for all nine years. She works on sewing and darning various items.

Millar also volunteers with Comfy Cases, a Canadian non-profit organization that brings together volunteers to stitch colourful pillowcases for children in hospitals with cancer.

One of the places they donate to is Headwaters Health Centre in Orangeville.

Millar says she loves volunteering to help her community.

At the event, she was working on repairing a well-loved handmade plush doll made by the person’s mother.

Millar says one of the best parts of being a part of this is extending the life of what she’s working on for others.

“It’s the joy in their face, and they’re very grateful,” she says.

Regional Councillor Christina Early attended the event and shared that hosting repair cafes such as these helps keep waste out of landfills and builds skills right here in Caledon.

She shared that by working together to make small changes, the community is making a collective impact, whether this be through repairing instead of replacing, choosing reusable options, or reducing our food and plastic waste.

“Big kudos to ecoCaledon for all their work!”