What if you could bring your broken lamp, dull kitchen knives, or torn favorite jacket to one place — and walk away with them fixed, for free? That’s exactly what’s happening in Scranton, Pennsylvania, as local organizations team up to help residents repair instead of replace.
The Lackawanna County Office of Environmental Sustainability, Johnson College, and the City of Scranton are hosting a free community Fix-It Fair on Saturday, November 14, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Johnson College’s Scranton campus on North Main Avenue. Skilled fixers — including Johnson College students and community volunteers — will offer a wide range of repair services at no cost to attendees.
Services available include woodworking, knife sharpening, visible mending, earring repair, book repair, bicycle repair, small appliance repair, and upholstery work. Beyond repairs, the event will offer hands-on workshops on patching holes in walls, speeding up a slow computer, resume writing, and trimming a pet’s nails. Families with children can also enjoy a puppet show and face painting.
Nicole Shapiro, director of the county’s Office of Environmental Sustainability, described the event as reflecting a broader cultural shift.
“This event is kind of matching up with how the vibe is lately, like people really do want to … buy secondhand, keep things for as long as they can, and reduce like that throwaway society, kind of step away from that overconsumption,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro added that the event aligns directly with her office’s core goals.
“It also aligns with our office mission — sustainability, using what you have, trying to make it work,” she said.
How to Participate
Residents who want an item repaired must register for a two-hour time slot and upload photos of the broken item in advance. According to Shapiro, the photos help volunteers prepare.
“So that the volunteers fixing the items they know what to expect the day of, so they could bring any tools or materials,” she said.
The registration deadline to have an item repaired is Thursday, November 12, at noon. To sign up for a repair slot or workshop, visit the event registration form. No advance registration is required to attend the general activities.
Participants will be asked to sign a waiver acknowledging that some items may not be repairable on-site. If a repair cannot be completed, volunteers will diagnose the problem and either explain how to fix it or point residents toward a local business that can help.
Shapiro encouraged people to plan to stay a while.
“We want people to come and hang out,” she said. “Expect to be there for about one to two hours.”
A Growing Movement Away from Throwaway Culture
The Fix-It Fair is timed to coincide with America Recycles Day on Sunday, November 15, and reflects a measurable national trend. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, consumer concerns about clothing costs and environmental sustainability are fueling a shift toward secondhand apparel — and younger generations are leading the way. The bureau reports that
“more millennials and members of Generation Z are including secondhand items among their apparel purchases, with 42% of each generation shopping secondhand clothes at some point in 2020.”
This trend connects to a broader concept known as the circular economy. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, which works to accelerate the transition to this model, describes it this way:
“In our current economy, we take materials from the Earth, make products from them, and eventually throw them away as waste — the process is linear. In a circular economy, by contrast, we stop waste being produced in the first place.”
Markieann Muncie, 24, an education specialist and community outreach coordinator for the county’s environmental office, said her generation grew up learning about climate change from an early age — starting as far back as kindergarten. She sees that early awareness translating into everyday choices.
“People want to thrift. They want to fix things because they don’t want to have to buy new. People, I feel like, are just tired of that,” Muncie said. “They want something that will last, and if they can fix it, they want to fix it.”
Muncie also noted that the event offers more than just repairs — it’s a chance to pick up new skills.
“Part of it too is you can actually watch the people do the fixing and learn something from them as well,” she said.
For residents who lack the tools to handle repairs at home, the Lackawanna County Library System will be on hand to showcase their “Library of Things” program, which loans out tool kits, sewing kits, and other practical items to community members.
Shapiro said the social stigma once attached to buying secondhand goods is fading in Northeast Pennsylvania, and she hopes events like this one help make repair culture the norm.
“If more of these events pop up … it’s going to be just like a new norm, and that’s what we want. We want it to be the norm. Fix what you have … don’t be a throwaway society,” she said.
Organizers hope to make the Fix-It Fair an annual event — and potentially a quarterly one.
“We hope to do this every year. If we could do it quarterly in the future, that would be neat as well,” Shapiro said.
The event is open to residents from Lackawanna County and surrounding communities. For more local information or to register, use the official registration form.