The annual Sustainapalooza event hosted a variety of organizations and opportunities for students to engage in, including the ISU Repair Cafe. The volunteer-driven initiative began as an event at the Ames Public Library before integrating with Iowa State in October 2023.
Founded by The Green Umbrella student organization in 2012, Sustainapalooza promotes various aspects of sustainability both on and off campus. The event features education, engagement and empowerment opportunities related to finding sustainability connections both individually and collectively, as stated on the Office of Sustainability’s website.
During Repair Cafe events, volunteers will help repair broken items to give them a longer life cycle or assist in finding a local repair shop option, according to the Iowa State College of Liberal Arts and Sciences’ website. Students are encouraged to bring items like clothing, jewelry and electronics to be inspected and repaired by volunteers, free of charge.
Lisa Muccigrosso, an employee of Iowa State’s Parks Library, is responsible for bringing the event to the university. When Muccigrosso discovered the university’s Sustainapalooza event, she said she believed it was the perfect opportunity to promote the event to students on campus.
“I feel like it goes hand in hand,” Muccigrosso said. “You know, there’s the clothing swap, there’s giving new life to stuff, there’s the sustainability symposium. This just feels like such a natural fit for the theme of the conference and really for the Office of Sustainability. It just feels like a great dovetail opportunity.”
One of Muccigrosso’s favorite memories of working with the Repair Cafe was when one individual brought in a first-generation Apple Computer.
“Someone else was walking by the library and saw that, went home and got their own and brought it in,” Muccigrosso said.
Muccigrosso said that both items were able to be repaired and that she enjoyed seeing such unique items being taken into the event.
Lindsey Broderick, a senior studying geology, attended Tuesday’s Repair Cafe in hopes of having several items repaired, including jewelry, a calculator and a pair of jeans.
“I came in here like, ‘Oh, this is really nice, just people in the community helping each other with their free time,’” Broderick said. “It was really nice just knowing I didn’t have to pay for anything.”
While items cannot always be repaired, students often leave the Repair Cafe with new solutions or alternatives for bringing new life to their old or broken items.
“You can always get a diagnosis for a problem, which is really nice because you don’t want to go in with something like your phone to an expensive repair store and they just upcharge you because they can,” Broderick said.
Megan O’Donnell, a Repair Cafe volunteer, became involved with the organization while working at the library. O’Donnell said she enjoyed the sustainable aspect of the event, particularly regarding clothing.
“Clothing that is being made now is manufactured to be cheap, almost as a one-time use,” O’Donnell said. “Things like Repair Cafe promote clothing to be used for a longer amount of time.”
The Repair Cafe plans on continuing to hold events on campus and attending future Iowa State events pertaining to sustainability.
To get involved with the Repair Cafe, students can reach out to [email protected] or contact the Iowa State Office of Sustainability.
