Alumni Action Alert: Why Right to Repair is buzzing right now
Many alumni asked us over the years for more opportunities to get engaged in important issues. Now we send an Alumni Action Alert each month on a particular issue or campaign The Public Interest Network is working on, along with some actions that you can take to help protect the environment, public health or the public interest.
The issue: We generate way too much waste, and companies intentionally make products harder to repair. U.S. PIRG is backing “right to repair” reforms to give you or your local repair shop what you need to fix your items instead of having to just throw them out and buy new ones. U.S. PIRG’s Right to Repair campaign is buzzing in 2021 and now has active bills in 25 state legislatures.
Quick hit action: Sign this petition calling on Congress to support Right to Repair reforms.
More details: As products -- from dishwashers to phones, cars, tractors and ventilators -- become more digital, manufacturers have been intentionally making it difficult, if not impossible, to repair them. This means more cost to consumers, and also more waste. Americans dispose of 416,000 cell phones per day, and only 15 to 20 percent of electronic waste is recycled.
The Right to Repair movement envisions a different kind of system, where instead of throwing things out, we reuse, salvage and rebuild. But that means taking on the big companies who would push us into buying more and throwing more away. The goal of the Right to Repair campaign is to give every consumer and small business access to the parts, tools and service information they need to repair products so we can keep things in use and reduce waste.
This may be the year for a major breakthrough with half of the United States considering Right to Repair bills in their state legislatures. These bills would reform existing laws to require manufacturers of electronic equipment to provide access to necessary items such as manuals, spare parts, diagnostics and special tools so people can repair their own devices. In some states, the legislation targets farm or medical equipment, while in other states, the bills apply broadly.
States that have introduced Right to Repair bills are highlighted in orange. You can find the full list here.
The COVID-19 pandemic has helped increase urgency for Right to Repair efforts. Lack of access to local repair options has proved to be a major hurdle for hospitals trying to save lives, as well as people attempting to work or learn remotely while offices and schools have been closed. Meanwhile, lawmakers also are focusing on farm equipment issues because industry groups had promised to resolve farmers’ problems by 2021 and have failed to do so.
Additional actions you can take:
Tell your state legislators: support the Right to Repair. Here is a sample petition you can use in your message:
Fifty-nine million tons of e-waste were produced globally in 2019 -- but manufacturers still make it unnecessarily difficult for us to fix our electronic devices rather than replace them with new ones. Not only do these repair restrictions create extra cost for consumers, but they feed into massive amounts of waste. So I urge you to support bill [ insert bill number listed in the full list of states that can be found here ].
Write a letter to the editor (LTE) of your local paper. In case you need a refresher, here’s a how-to on LTE writing on page 51 of the Student PIRGs' Activist Toolkit. And if your LTE gets published, please be sure to let us know!
