The Right to Repair and Climate Justice
By Keduse Bekele for BST 293 A - Social Justice in STEM
The Right to Repair is a movement that intends to restore product ownership to consumers.
In the 20th century, many electronics and appliances came with repair manuals; and for anyone who requested it, schematics were also available to understand how the components on a circuit interact in order to do low-level repairs.
Today, finding repair manuals that come with a product or are available is something that has become increasingly slim. On top of that, obtaining schematics have become near impossible due to non-disclosure agreements and copyright laws.
Consequentially, manufacturers that make devices have the final say in whether or not a device can be repaired, who can repair them, and how much a repair costs -- no matter what is actually wrong with it.
It's not just repair, though. This also extends to how you use the device, even though you "own" it.
Washingtonians --
Find your local representative, ask them to support the bill, and tell your story about repair. (via this link)
It can be anything from you having broken a device where your only option was one 'authorized' repair shop that tells you to buy a new one, or having had an iPhone affected by battery degradation, or you had a Keurig or HP printer and so on.
Registered voter in a different state? Go to https://www.repair.org/stand-up to find your Reresentative/Senator and draft a letter.
Repair Manifesto, via ifixit.com
