Make second hand normal with Guido Verbist of The Bower

Today’s guest is Guido Verbist from The Bower Reuse and Repair Centre, and he is on a mission to make buying second hand normal.

If you watched War on Waste, the recent series on the ABC, you may have met Guido already. He’s the Co-op Manager of The Bower, and he’s been doing a huge amount of work over the past few years to reframe the way we think about second hand stuff, as well as empowering each of us to take control of repairing the things we do own.

Brooke sat down to chat with Guido in the workshop room of The Bower’s new Reuse and Repair Centre in Parramatta, and they got to talking about convenience, the stigma of buying pre-owned things, and the lost art of repair.

The Bower aims to help minimise the amount of stuff going to landfill (and to date have stopped more than 1.3 million kilograms of stuff from ending up in the ground) and they do this by:

• reselling unwanted goods to people who need them
• fixing items and reselling them to people who need them
• testing and tagging unwanted electrical items and reselling to people who need them
• teaching people how to repair their own belongings at regular repair cafes and various workshops
• working with local councils and encouraging residents to use their services
• working with refugee and domestic violence services to help those in need establish a new home

This is an organisation making a huge difference across Sydney, and Guido talks openly and honestly about the benefits and challenges of being at the forefront of the reuse and repair movement in Australia, as well as his advice for people who want to set up similar services in their local community.

Head over to http://www.slowyourhome.com/191 for the full blog post and links to resources mentioned in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

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