2025 Community Repair Fair
October 4, 2025 10am-2pm
Fix Things * Learn Skills * Prevent Waste
The second annual Community Repair Fair was held on October 4th in the Gladys Valley Marine Studies Building at Hatfield Marine Science Center. Led by Oregon Sea Grant (OSG) and the Hatfield Innovation Lab (iLab), this free community event was open to the public and was powered largely by local volunteers. Community members were encouraged to bring their broken household items to the Repair Fair to see if they could be fixed by a volunteer. The event also featured repair demonstrations, hands-on upcycling activities, and community members and organizations who shared waste prevention strategies at tables throughout the building. In addition to 8 OSG and iLab staff, 30 volunteers served as Expert Fixers, exhibitors, and/or general event helpers.
This year’s 4-hour event was 2 hours shorter than last year’s inaugural Repair Fair. Nevertheless, the number of people attending and items brought in to be repaired was higher than last year! In all, 78 people attended the 2025 Repair Fair and they brought 138 items for assessment and repair. Of these, 76% of the items were fixed at the event. An additional 10% of the items were marked as a repair “in progress”, with many owners leaving with information that could help them advance progress on their repair at home. The remaining items could not be fixed.
See 2025 Repair Fair photos on the Oregon Sea Grant Flicker page
Demonstrations
Glues Clues at the Adhesives table
Caring for Kitchen Woods
Plastic alternatives
Microfibers in laundry
Make and Take Activities
Emergency sewing kit
Beeswax food wrap
Reusable cloth shopping bag
Wallet made from upcycled plastic
Earrings made from upcycled corks
Sustainability Zines
Interactive Exhibits
Which bin? Sorting waste at home
Be a Microplastics Detective!
Cellphone Lifecycle Trivia
What was fixed at the 2025 REPAIR FAIR?
Lots of things! Items included bicycles, vacuum cleaners, stuffed toys, lamps, necklaces, dull tools, denim jeans, tent, chair, purse, coat, speaker, fan, mini chainsaw, alarm clock, bracelet, gym bag, coffee grinder, phone, kitchen knives, backpack, sweaters, blender...
What did participants like about the Repair Fair? Below is a word cloud made from their answers.
2025 Repair Fair Partners
The 2025 Community Repair Fair is part of the Oregon Coalition to Combat Marine Debris project, which is funded by a NOAA community coalition grant awarded to Oregon Sea Grant. Primary partners for the 2025 Repair Fair included The HMSC Innovation Lab and the HMSC Green Team. Tabling organizations included the OSU Ecotox and Environmental Stress Lab, Thompson's Sanitary Service, Oceana Natural Foods Co-op, and the OSU Waste Watchers club. Volunteer Expert Fixers included a host of local individuals and business owners, including 101 Sharpening and Cutting Edge Canvas.
Last Year's Event
The first Community Repair Fair at Hatfield Marine Science Center was held on July 20, 2024, and was coordinated by Oregon Sea Grant and the Innovation Lab at OSU's Hatfield Marine Science Center, with help from the HMSC Green Team. Tabling organizations included Thompson's Sanitary Service, Habitat for Humanity's Newport ReStore, Oceana Natural Foods Co-op, and the Ecotox and Environmental Stress (Brander) lab.
See 2024 photos on the HMSC Flickr page
What was fixed at the 2024 REPAIR FAIR?
Bicycles, lamps, jewelry, dull tools, clothing, ripped bag, smartphone, vacuum cleaner, duvet cover, headphones, lantern, hats, broom, jewelry box, fan, purse, radio, backpack, chainsaw, rocking chair, microscope, pottery, curling iron, toaster, bird feeder, wobbly stools, hang glider bag, sweater, computer...
- Number of items brought in: 99
- Number of items fixed: 78
- Average fix it time per item: 29 minutes
- Number of workshops: 5