Imagine the following, a few years ago you have bought a new laptop. It was expensive but worth it because it still works great…except the battery. The battery doesn’t hold up anymore and you have to be constantly plugged in to the wall to be able to use it. You think, a simple battery change would do the trick, right? Wrong! You cannot change the battery, you cannot access the interior of the laptop, there is no replacement battery on the market, and your local repair shop is as lost as you are. You then go to the manufacturer shop to see if they can change the battery, but it turns out, the repair is just a bit cheaper than a new laptop. So, you toss your old one and buy a new one that you will use as long as the battery holds.
But there is another solution, and this solution is called the Right to Repair.
What is the Right to Repair?
The Right to Repair is a worldwide movement whose main goal is to pass right to repair laws that will guarantee consumers and small businesses access to the tools, parts, schematics and diagnostics necessary for repairs.
Why is the Right to Repair important?
Repair is important ecologically speaking. E-waste has become a big and growing concern! Every ecologist is going to tell you that “Reduce, reuse, recycle” is in that order for a reason. Recycling isn’t a clean solution as you may think. And if we can add “repair” to that phrase, why not? You must think now that if repairing stuff helps our planet stay as green as possible no one is going to be against it, right? Wrong again!
Why isn’t the Right to Repair already a thing?
Big manufacturers such as Apple and Microsoft are lobbying against this. They argue that, giving third parties access to the things that the movement demands, is putting their business in jeopardy for several reasons, all of which can be rationally dismissed. Sometimes these arguments are even contradictory to the companies own business model. For instance, Apple argues that they are assuring customer experience by protecting them from third party scams, yet they are slowing peoples iPhone down if they detect that the battery is worn down. This was revelled by Apple in December 2017, and as a result this had an increased interest in battery repair.
What can you do?
First of all, you can try and use your electronic devices for as long as you can.
Another thing you can do is support the movement by signing a petition and talking about it with other people. If you want to sign the petition or for more information, visit the website https://repair.eu/.
And most importantly, don’t forget: Reduce, Reuse, Repair and Recycle everything that you can.
Aleksandra Dubovac – M2 Cyberjustice – Promotion 2021/2022
Source :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SZrGm3ZqQU 16 y/o testimonial Maryland
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvVafMi0l68 LTT Video
https://repair.eu/news/apple-crushes-one-man-repair-shop/ Norway
https://www.macrumors.com/2021/05/20/apple-right-to-repair-lobbying-efforts/
https://uspirg.org/feature/usp/right-repair
https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/blog/what-is-right-to-repair/