This Club in Buenos Aires Turns Trash into Treasure
Marina and Meli are two friends from Buenos Aires who have a powerful conviction: if it can be fixed, it isn’t trash. For many years they’ve been actively opposing the false dichotomy between recycling and throwing away, and they believe there is a third way out: fixing. This is the idea that inspired the “Club de Reparadores” or “Repairer’s Club,” a movement that promotes repairing as a strategy for responsible consumption and the practice of sustainability.
Most of the things we own seem not to last as long as the objects our parents owned or their parents before them. At the same time, they seem to be less repairable. Take a look at your iPad or even your computer: no screws are visible. When buying becomes cheaper than fixing, and objects are not designed to last, repairing not only becomes a political act but the right thing to do. Getting more people to repair and join the fight against planned obsolescence is what sparked the Club de Reparadores.
The Club, founded in Buenos Aires in 2015 by Marina Pla and Meli Scioli, meets every few months in a different place so it can reach different communities. People bring their broken objects and get to learn how to fix them by themselves, with help from a professional. The most avid learners occasionally get to fix someone else’s objects and test their newfound skills.
The Club is presented as a celebration of the culture of repair, contrasting the culture of throwing away that we’ve grown accustomed to. Even though it strongly resembles European “repair cafés,” such as ones in Amsterdam, the Club offers its own take on the repair and DIY culture.
Its pillars are not only the love for the material, the importance of fostering a community, or cultivating innovation, but also promoting local jobs, circular economies, and a culture of open sourcing. If “information wants to be free,” we can safely assume objects want to be fixed.
Preparing a club meeting always entails an adventure. From mapping the local professional repairers and getting them to participate to convincing a whole neighborhood to join them, every time the Club meets no one knows what’s going to happen. Luckily, every single time, a party of repairing ensues. Loud cheers can be heard every time a cherished object comes back to life and the crowd is often eager to participate again.
What is often overlooked when it comes to repairing an object is the powerful impact on our own self-worth that it can bring. Marina and Meli frequently quote “Wish Piece II” by Yoko Ono, taken from Acorn (2013), a collection of instruction-based “action poems.”
“Mend an object.
When you go through the process of mending,
you mend something inside your soul as well.
Think of a ‘crack’ in your own life or the world.
Ask for it to be healed as you mend the object.”
— Yoko Ono, “Wish Piece II”
What this poem encompasses is the conviction that by fixing something, we get to fix ourselves. The Club, it seems, extends this idea further: by fixing our most treasured objects we get to fix our communities.
Since you are here, we would like to share our vision for the future of travel - and the direction Culture Trip is moving in.
Culture Trip launched in 2011 with a simple yet passionate mission: to inspire people to go beyond their boundaries and experience what makes a place, its people and its culture special and meaningful — and this is still in our DNA today. We are proud that, for more than a decade, millions like you have trusted our award-winning recommendations by people who deeply understand what makes certain places and communities so special.
Increasingly we believe the world needs more meaningful, real-life connections between curious travellers keen to explore the world in a more responsible way. That is why we have intensively curated a collection of premium small-group trips as an invitation to meet and connect with new, like-minded people for once-in-a-lifetime experiences in three categories: Culture Trips, Rail Trips and Private Trips. Our Trips are suitable for both solo travelers, couples and friends who want to explore the world together.
Culture Trips are deeply immersive 5 to 16 days itineraries, that combine authentic local experiences, exciting activities and 4-5* accommodation to look forward to at the end of each day. Our Rail Trips are our most planet-friendly itineraries that invite you to take the scenic route, relax whilst getting under the skin of a destination. Our Private Trips are fully tailored itineraries, curated by our Travel Experts specifically for you, your friends or your family.
We know that many of you worry about the environmental impact of travel and are looking for ways of expanding horizons in ways that do minimal harm - and may even bring benefits. We are committed to go as far as possible in curating our trips with care for the planet. That is why all of our trips are flightless in destination, fully carbon offset - and we have ambitious plans to be net zero in the very near future.
Culture Trip Spring Sale
Save up to $1,100 on our unique small-group trips! Limited spots.
- Post ID: 1000186557
- Sponsored? No
- View Payload