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Repair & Reuse

Ideas tagged with Repair & Reuse — growing one neighborhood at a time.

Repair cafés and tool libraries keep things in use longer. Join a workshop, share a drill, or host a fix it night on your street. Discover repair and reuse ideas near you.

Repair cafés and reuse circles keep good things in circulation and skills in the community.

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Top ideas in Repair & Reuse

SupportRepair & Reuse Munich

Hofflohmärkte, neighbourhood courtyard flea market in Munich

Hofflohmärkte, neighbourhood courtyard flea market in Munich Hofflohmärkte is a Germany-wide reuse programme: residents register a private courtyard, garden, or garage and sell pre-loved goods while neighbours follow a linked tour plan through the district in Munich. The platform runs in 30+ cities and 300+ neighbourhoods; initiator René Götz operates registration, participants organise their own courtyards. What you can do - Download the tour plan PDF for your Viertel (published about one week before each market day) - Walk the linked addresses and buy second-hand treasures from neighbours - Register your own Hof if you have landlord approval and goods to pass on How it works - Sales stay on private ground only, not sidewalks or public space - Typical hours: Saturdays 10–16, Sundays 11–16 (Munich also runs selected Friday evenings with M-net sponsorship) - No food sales; private sellers only, professional dealers are not welcome - Registration closes three weeks before each date for tour-plan marking; late sign-ups are accepted but may not appear on the map - Organisers may cancel a date if fewer than 30 courtyards register, fees are then refunded About Hofflohmärkte Neighbours register a private Hof, Garten, or Garage on Hofflohmärkte and sell used goods on scheduled Viertel days. Registered addresses appear on a tour plan published about one week before each date. Sales happen on private ground only. See city pages for local schedules and Spielregeln & Tipps for seller rules. Why it matters Every item re-homed from a courtyard is one less thing bought new or landfilled, and a chance to meet the people who live behind the front doors.

flea market reuse neighbourhood

Repair & Reuse Frankfurt

Reusable cup & takeaway box network in Frankfurt

Reusable cup & takeaway box network in Frankfurt Map cafés and kiosks that lend reusable cups and takeaway boxes along the river and main streets, one returnable cup beats a mountain of single-use in Frankfurt. What you can do - Use #MainMehrweg and #MainBecher to find participating venues - Return cups to any partner point, not only where you borrowed - Encourage local businesses to join the pool if they are not listed yet Why it matters Reuse systems only work when enough people return, neighbourhood champions keep the loop spinning.

reuse circular local

Join inRepair & Reuse Chisamba

Join mercury-free gold training in Chisamba

Join mercury-free gold training in Chisamba Learn to recover gold with gravity instead of mercury, on a shaking table at the Matipa Village pilot in Chisamba. It is safer for crews and for the rivers near the mine. What you can do in Chisamba - Ask the planetGOLD Zambia project about the next mercury-free gold training in Chisamba - Learn gravity gold processing with sluices, shaking tables, and centrifugal tools - Follow the pilot plant path at Matipa Village, where Kwetu Cooperative holds an artisanal mining right - Sit in a CRAFT Code session on how to sell gold into a formal market - Hear ZEMA explain the environmental approval steps for a small mine site How to join The Artisanal Gold Council runs planetGOLD Zambia with the Zambia Environmental Management Agency (ZEMA). Matipa Village in Chisamba District was chosen as a pilot site after a community meeting on 6 December 2025. A training day on mercury-free processing and the CRAFT Code was held in Chisamba on 20 May 2026. A further training was held at Kanyelele in Mpika District on 24 June 2026. Check the planetGOLD Zambia page for the next session. The programme is ongoing. Why it matters in Chisamba A mercury-free processing system (a wash plant that recovers gold with gravity, not mercury) is safer for crews and rivers. The project teaches gravity concentration because it is practical for small teams. It also steers miners away from mercury and away from cyanide leaching. Kwetu Cooperative's mining right is why Matipa was picked. The plant is a pilot, not a finished public workshop with posted hours. This page is for miners who process ore in Zambia. Fairmined supply for goldsmiths in Europe is a different pathway. Find more community projects in Chisamba. Good to know - Where is the mercury-free gold training in Chisamba? At Matipa Village, Chisamba District, Central Province. Check the planetGOLD Zambia page for the next date. - Who runs planetGOLD Zambia? The Artisanal Gold Council, with ZEMA as the national counterpart. The Global Environment Facility funds the programme and UNEP leads it. - Is this the same as buying Fairmined gold? No. This page is for miners who process ore in Zambia. Fairmined supply for goldsmiths is a different pathway.

gold mining mercury

Repair & Reuse Würzburg

Borrow at Hubland Bibliothek der Dinge in Würzburg

Borrow at Hubland Bibliothek der Dinge in Würzburg Stadtteilbücherei Hubland lends almost 100 objects from play, everyday helpers, makerspace, and travel: sewing machine, cordless drill, hiking poles, juggling kit, bike bags, sack truck, power banks, speakers, programmable robots, consoles, a beach wagon, and canvases. Search the catalogue for Bibliothek der Dinge. This is not a Hofflohmarkt. What you can do - Borrow up to three objects for two weeks (one extension of two weeks, reservations possible) with a library card - Collect and return only at Hubland during staffed desk hours (green dot from age 0, orange dot from 16) - You are liable for damage. Objects are excluded from internal library transit How it works Staffed hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 13:00 to 18:00, Saturday 11:00 to 15:00. Open Library is daily 07:00 to 22:00, but things leave the building only while staff are at the desk. Why it matters Campus neighbours can share bulky or rare-use kit without a new buy for a single weekend.

borrow library tools

Repair & Reuse Göttingen

Borrow and learn at Bibliothek der Dinge in Göttingen

Borrow and learn at Bibliothek der Dinge in Göttingen Stadtbibliothek Göttingen keeps a Bibliothek der Dinge on the 2nd floor of the Thomas-Buergenthal-Haus at Gotmarstraße 8, beside the information desk. A home planetarium, table-tennis set, bike tools, keyboard, energy meter, projector, or ukulele can leave with a valid user card. Objects with a high injury risk are excluded. What you can do - Borrow objects for four weeks with three extensions, included in the library card - Use the same floor for garden books and, in 2026, the Saatgutbibliothek seed packets - Check the programme page for the live object list How it works Zentralbibliothek hours: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 11:00 to 18:00, Saturday 11:00 to 16:00, Wednesday closed. The 2026 seed season opened on 2 March on the 2nd floor. No extra registration for seed packets. Why it matters A things cabinet next to a seed library lets Göttingen residents try a hobby and grow a variety without a shopping trip.

borrow library tools

LearnRepair & Reuse Mexico City

Less Plastic Guide: Oaxaca coastal hotels and fisheries

Cut single-use plastic where tourism meets the Pacific On Oaxaca's Pacific coast, roughly two tonnes of plastic enter the sea daily where waste infrastructure is thin. GIZ (on behalf of the German Environment Ministry) works with municipalities, hotels, and fisheries through the Less Plastic Guide, practical alternatives to disposable products. Participating hotels cut plastic consumption by about one third; lessons feed Mexico's national circular-economy strategy. What you can do - Hoteliers and restaurants on the Oaxaca coast: request the Less Plastic Guide and audit single-use items room by room - Travellers: favour accommodations that publish plastic-reduction steps - Other coastal towns: replicate the tourism–fishery workshop model with your regional environment ministry How it works The guide lists swap-in products and awareness steps; PROCEP pilots improved separation and collection with local governments before plastic reaches rivers. Why it matters Tourism economies can shrink marine litter at the source, not only after beach clean-ups.

plastic Oaxaca tourism

Repair & Reuse Leipzig

Visit Konzeptladen „Wiederschön“

Leipzig’s circular department store pilot Stadtreinigung Leipzig and partners are building „Wiederschön“: a hub where reuse, workshops, and education meet shopping. The first Konzeptladen opened in May 2024 in the Höfe am Brühl as a stepping stone toward a larger second-life Kaufhaus. What you will find - Upcycled furniture, products from rescued polymers (3D-printed), tool-lending boxes, jewellery upcycling, and a growing shoe-repair corner - Events and repair workshops on circular living - Space for makers, craftspeople, and associations (funded pilot with reduced rent for partners) Visit - Konzeptladen Wiederschön, Höfe am Brühl, 1st floor (near Müller), Leipzig city centre - Full Kaufhaus location still in planning for Innenstadt, Mockau, or Georg-Schumann-Straße Why it matters A visible reuse shop normalises second-life shopping and gives makers a downtown stage for circular skills.

circular shop upcycling

VolunteerRepair & Reuse Roskilde

Plan circular demolition in Roskilde

Plan circular demolition in Roskilde In Roskilde, you can see how circular demolition was planned at Musicon, the old concrete works the city bought in 2003. A pre-demolition audit of Hall 12 listed what could be used again before the selective take-down began. What you can do in Roskilde - Walk the Musicon district and see old factory ground turned into a neighbourhood (CityLoops on circular demolition) - Ask the city to require a material audit before the next public building comes down - Read the two CityLoops guides: one for the audit, one for selective demolition - If you own a building, use the Copenhagen Værdibyg guide to set a reuse aim before you tender the job (Værdibyg circular demolition booklet) - Ask designers to look at the audit while they draw the next building How to join Musicon is a public district of about 200,000 square metres, a former concrete factory and gravel pit. The city did not lock it to one fixed plan. Projects grow step by step with residents, builders, and the municipality. Hall 12 was audited by Golder: a desk study, then a field study, then a list of how to handle each material, including a store of saved parts. You can walk the district. You cannot join the Hall 12 works as a volunteer day. The audit is the pattern to copy. Why it matters in Roskilde An early list stops good doors, timber, and steel from being treated as rubbish. CityLoops found that contractors do not add this audit on their own after the contract is signed, so the city has to ask for it in the tender. A Danish client can follow the same idea with the Værdibyg steps: set an aim, survey resources, and write the handling rules into the tender. Find more community projects in Roskilde. Good to know - What is a pre-demolition audit? It is a list of materials, how much there is, how clean they are, and whether they can be used again, recycled, or must be treated as harmful. CityLoops says reuse is hard to promote without that list. - When should the first clear-out happen? As soon as the last user has left, before damp and vandalism spoil loose items.

demolition audit salvage

Repair & Reuse Høje-Taastrup

Use circular demolition rules in Taastrup

Use circular demolition rules in Taastrup In Taastrup, circular demolition rules were written so the old city hall would not be smashed by default. The 1980 hall at Bygaden 2 is being kept and turned into homes. That saves more than sorting rubble. What you can do in Taastrup - Walk by Bygaden 2 and see the hall that stayed up (Høje-Taastrup on the old hall) - Ask your council to require a resource map before it sells a building for demolition - Ask for at least 80 percent by weight of clean materials to be reused, recycled, or recovered if a part must come off - Look at the new city hall, which was built with a recycled concrete foundation (CityLoops handbook) - If you pay for a demolition in Denmark, set a reuse aim with the Værdibyg guide before the tender (Værdibyg booklet) How to join The municipality sold the old hall to IKANO with circular conditions. A pre-demolition audit had to map harmful materials and parts worth keeping. Selective demolition applied to parts that could not be used in place. The later plan keeps the hall, about 17,000 square metres, and turns it into about 200 homes, with about 130 townhouses around it. The old heat plant on the grounds is planned as a neighbourhood house of about 200 square metres. The grounds are about 100,000 square metres. Staff left in February 2023 for a new hall at Rådhusstræde 1. This is not an open-house tour. You can see the building from the street. Why it matters in Taastrup Keeping the hall avoids about 20,000 tonnes of new raw material and about 2,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide compared with knocking it down, according to the CityLoops account. A resident in Copenhagen can reach Høje-Taastrup by suburban rail and see a real case of "do not demolish if the building can still work". Find more community projects in Høje-Taastrup. Good to know - What if some parts still come off? The updated rules still ask for selective demolition of those parts, and they count a structure that stays standing as fully kept in use. - Where is the new hall? It is at Rådhusstræde 1. The photo shows that tower. The old hall is at Bygaden 2.

demolition reuse city-hall

Repair & Reuse Mikkeli

Sort circular demolition piles in Mikkeli

Sort circular demolition piles in Mikkeli In Mikkeli, circular demolition sorted more than 99 percent of two public buildings so concrete, bricks, and a few special parts stayed in use. The sites were Pankalampi health centre and Tuukkala hospital, both taken down in 2021 under CityLoops rules. What you can do in Mikkeli - Ask the city to put the same sorting list into the next demolition contract (CityLoops in Mikkeli) - Ask for a pre-demolition audit early enough that designers can use the parts - Ask for a separate contract to clear furniture and easy parts before the heavy machines start - Visit Mikkelipuisto to see granite slabs that came from the Tuukkala yard - Read the CityLoops selective demolition guide and the Mikkeli report before you copy the contract How to join The buildings are gone, so there is no live tour. Pankalampi stood at Kiiskinmäenkatu in the 50130 district: a 1976 health centre with a 1992 extension, a 1979 dental clinic, and a 1992 garage, about 9,855 square metres. Tuukkala hospital, empty since 2010, had a 1960 part and a 1970s part. Ahosen Palvelut from Jyväskylä took Pankalampi. Terra Infra from Kouvola took Tuukkala. Building Services ran the contracts. Miksei and Xamk wrote a model contract other cities can reuse. Why it matters in Mikkeli The contract names the piles, and someone checks during the job. At Tuukkala, Metsäsairila recorded 9,019 tonnes, of which more than 8,000 tonnes were concrete and brick, and only 58 tonnes were mixed waste. The city also saved a fire escape from Pankalampi for a new day care, sold the backup power plant, and let a vocational project turn oak boards into a table top and cutting boards at ESEDU. Find more community projects in Mikkeli. Good to know - Why strip the building before the excavators? In Mikkeli, empty public buildings can sit for years. A separate strip does not need a demolition permit, so local firms can start earlier. - Where did special pieces go? A fire escape from Pankalampi went to a new day care. Granite slabs from the Tuukkala yard went to Mikkelipuisto.

demolition sorting concrete

EventRepair & Reuse Cologne

Rescue deposit glass at street festivals in Cologne

Rescue deposit glass at street festivals in Cologne At parades and mega-events, returnable glass often misses the deposit system. Zero Waste Köln volunteers collect bottles so they reach supermarkets and breweries instead of residual waste or incineration. What you can do - Join parade and festival glass collections, email aktionen@zerowastekoeln.de - Bring gloves and sturdy bags; many collectors focus on plastic, glass needs extra hands Recent impact (from their project stories) - Sülzer Veedelszug 2025: 600 bottles with KG Grüne Rheinfunken (logistics: Gaffel). - Cologne Pride 2025: 6,500 bottles with Rheinfunken, Cradle2Cradle, Zukunft feiern, Grüngürtelrosen, Veedelperlen. - gamescom festival: 120 beer crates of empties with Feiermacher. Why it matters Every bottle returned to Pfand keeps glass in the brewery loop instead of residual waste or street litter after mega-events.

glass volunteer events

Repair & Reuse Leipzig

Make and mend at Makerspace Gohlis

Selbermachen statt neu kaufen The Makerspace in Gohlis is a shared workshop in a former car dealership where Leipzig residents turn ideas into objects: with tools, machines, and neighbours who enjoy teaching. What is on offer - 3D printing, wood and textile work, ceramics, photo lab, welding, and more. - Workshops and courses to learn techniques and meet other makers. - Priority on reused and surplus materials; new purchases only when necessary. Open hours - Tue-Fri 17:00-22:00; Sat 10:00-16:00 - Lindenthaler Str. 61-65, 04157 Leipzig Why it matters When households share heavy tools and skills, fewer rarely used machines are bought and discarded: repair and making stay local and joyful.

makerspace skills tools

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