The Bendigo Repair Cafe have taken their own approach to the new ban on e-waste, encouraging people to repair broken or unwanted goods rather than tossing them aside.
The Victorian Government banned from July 1 any electronic waste materials being put into landfill.
Any item with a plug, battery or power cord that is no longer working or wanted now needs to be taken to the Heathcote, Goornong and Strathfieldsaye transfer stations or the Eaglehawk Recycle Shop.
But Rebecca Jane, one of the coordinators of the Bendigo Repair Cafe, said people should look to fix their old goods at the group's repairing e-waste event this Saturday.
Read more: Push to recycle, not store, old tech items
"We need to change that mentality of throwing things out," Ms Jane said. "Our movement is not just about repairing stuff. It's about opening conversations about how we think about our stuff.
"We need to step away from that buy and throw away culture. Our environment is suffering from that."
The Bendigo Repair Cafe has been hosting monthly repair events for the past two years, fixing more than 450 kilograms worth of items.
But the e-waste event has garnered increased community interest, Ms Jane said.
"We find that our customers are needing a bit of guidance on what they can bring," she said. "We were trying to hone in on a topic and we thought it would be great to bring it in-line with the new e-waste laws.
"This month, I haven't done any promotional work. I just posted the event on Facebook like I usually do but the event has doubled, almost tripled, in interest from the last month.
"That's just from the general public seeing the event and sharing it amongst their own pages. It's generating quite a lot of community interest in Bendigo, which is really good to see."
While Ms Jane admitted electrical items can be "a bit tricky" to repair, she said the volunteers would do their best to help those who come to the event
"The fixers will find out what's wrong with it and try and source the parts they need to fix it," she said. "And if we can't fix an item, we talk about ways we can re-purpose things
"We always encourage re-purposing rather than landfill - anything can be turned into a pot plant!"
The group will accept items with a plug that can be carried - so anything from toasters and laptops, to garden blowers and rice cookers. They will also work with any items that are not e-waste, as per usual.
"We just don't want things like fridges or washing machines because they're too hard to manage," Ms Jane said.
The Bendigo Repair Cafe e-waste special will run at the Old Church on the Hill from 10am-1pm, Saturday July 20.
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Tara Cosoleto
Journalist covering courts and general news at the Bendigo Advertiser.
Journalist covering courts and general news at the Bendigo Advertiser.
