Got broken string lights? Fixing them might be easier than you think

What's known as the most wonderful time of the year can also be themost wasteful.

Over the winter holidays London, Ont.'scurbside waste is expected to nearlydouble in weightcompared to the course of a normal week largely due to food waste and excess gift packaging.

Other holiday items pile upin landfills tooand there's a growing movement of Londoners turning to repairingto keep those otherwise unwanted items out of the trash.

"Christmas lights are always a popular item that come in," said Londoner Paul Hoggarth.

He was one of nearly a dozen volunteer "fixers" gatheredat the London Public Library's Beacock branch on Tuesdayfor a monthly Repair Cafto help fix everything from broken toasters to lamps and kettles.

"I have been a a tinkerer my whole life and I just enjoy taking things apart," said Hoggarth, who started volunteeringabout a year ago.

"I'm not afraid just to open something up and see what's inside and it's like this instantaneous puzzle. You have to piece it all together and figure it out."

Get glowing

After trying to fix them herself at home,Terri Smalebrought some light strings to the Repair Caf with hopes of getting them glowing again and Hoggarth was there to help.

The Londoner bought four brand new strings of lights last year costing her nearly $100 and theyalready stopped working after one season, she said.

"It's so annoying when you go to string them upand they don't come on. I was so sad," she said, noting frustration with how quicklythings can break today.

"These people all have amazing skills and we're so fortunate that they're willing to sharetheir knowledge and expertise so stuff doesn't get thrown away," she said, while watching Hoggarth work on her lights.

Identifying the problem

When it comes to fixinglights, Hoggarth has a strategy.

The first step is diagnosing the problem, he said. While you can remove each bulb and test it, he uses a tool to speed that process up called a non-contact voltage detector. It allows him to test if electricity is passing through.

"The electricity has to pass through every single bulb. So, at this point it becomes fairly easy to check the string and find where the where the next problem is," he said.

The most unusual string light problemhe's fixed, is one where a dog had chewed right through the wires, and he had to rejoin the wires back together.

In the case of Smale's lights, he was able to get two strands of her lights working again, after lots of tinkering and some replacement bulbs.

"It's always very gratifying anytime that you see something fixed andsomebody can leave with a smile on their face, knowing that you were able to get it fixed for them."

There are some things you can do to lessen their changes of breaking, he said.All it takes is a little bit of moisture or corrosion over storage to stop the contacts from working, but storing them in a cool dry place can help, along with being very careful when taking them down each year.

About one third of the timehe can't get things working again, he estimated.Coming to a Repair Caf can give people the confidence to try morefixing at home, he said.

'Huge need'

Heenal Rajani, president of the Reimagine Institute for Community Sustainability,launched the Repair Caf in London about five years ago after being inspired by other cafs around the world.

"It's definitely something that there's a huge need for," he said.

Generally as a society, we've lost the ability to fix things, he said, and have grown accustomed to buying cheap things, using them,throwing them away from they break, and buying a new one."

"We don't have to be throwing all this stuff into the landfill. We can make the most of the things that we have by repairing them and learning about how to take good care of them."

If you can't make it to a Repair Caf, online tutorials can be a great resource, he said.

"The holidays are a very wasteful time," he said. "Anything that we can do to reduce our impact at this time while still having a good time is, is valuable."