The circle of it: This social enterprise is an advocacy group that aims to educate and promote repairs of electronics by empowering citizens with repair skills, thereby creating awareness of problems associated with consumerist “use and throw away” models.
restart project
Summary
The Restart Project is a CIO (Charitable Incorporated Organization) that runs regular “Restart parties” where people teach others how to repair their broken or defective devices- from tablets, toasters, iPhones to headphones. The group works with schools and other educational organizations to help them extend the lives of their electronic products. The group is also committed to collect and use data (e.g., repair data and metrics associated with repairs) and stories to help demand better and more sustainable electronics. The group aims to bring people together and educate people at at grass roots level about the harms of the consumerist model of electronics and the growing problem of e-waste. By giving people the skills and confidence to open up their electronics, the group empowers citizens to make a difference, and hopes to influence the way consumerist products are seen and interacted with. The organization runs more than 600 groups in over 20 countries as of 2023. (Source) The group campaigns for the “Right to Repair” in the UK, and is a founding member of the European Right to Repair Campaign. Through Restart Parties and other repair events, volunteers help members of the public repair broken items, building community through the sharing of skills, reducing waste, and recording data about the repairs attempted. In 2017 The Restart Project co-founded the Open Repair Alliance (ORA) and created the Open Repair Data Standard (ORDS) with partners to improve the quality, consistency, and interoperability of citizen-sourced repair data from networks around the world. (Source) The group has also developed the “Fixometer”, a piece of software that gathers evidence of the many possible barriers to repair.
Story
Co-founders Ugo Vallauri and Janet Gunter founded The Restart Project in 2012. Having both worked for many years in Asia, Latin America and Africa, bringing technology into community development projects, the duo felt inspired by the way in which people in the developing world wasted no electronic components. Also inspired by the Repair Cafe in Holland, the duo started running their own community events in the UK. Within the first 12 months, over 30 community events were held all over London. (Source)
Pic Credit: Sugru
“For most people, the biggest challenge is just overcoming nerves related to fixing. We’re told that we are not supposed to open, or even alter the products we own. But these attitudes are all relatively new! We like to think that repair is ‘once and future common sense’. The commercial repair sector used to provide role models and remind us that things can be repaired. Repair shops used to be reminders on every high street. And we no longer have these. There may not be a business model for many repairs, but with time, care, practice and the right equipment many repairs are still possible. And often times, repairs can be so simple, involving cleaning, replacing a wire or a plug, or simply doing a reset on a device.”
Janet Gunter in an interview
Founder(s)
Ugo Vallauri and Janet Gunter
Headquarters
London, UK
In business since
2012
Business type
CIO
Impact
According to their impact report, the group has prevented the waste of 72,899 kg of electronic waste and prevented 955,577 kg of carbon emissions.
Technology
hosting community repair events, advocacy, collecting repair data, creating network of repair entities
Material
electronics
Website
The Circular People 
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