Conservation fair coming to MHCC

On Saturday, MHCC will host its first, and hopefully annual, Repair Fair, inside the Vista Dining room from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

The Repair Fair gives community members a chance to have their broken electronics, bikes, and fabrics fixed, for free. Roughly 100 local volunteers connected with Repair Café Gresham will be there to help out.

“We can fix almost anything you can carry in. Popular (items) have been lamps, vacuums, blenders and mixers, old VCRs and even some computers,” Repair Café coordinator Carol Rulla said. “We just ask that you don’t show up with your fridge behind you.”

However, items such as microwaves, televisions, and furniture will not be repairable at the event, simply due to the amount of time it takes to fix each one.

Anyone who brings something to be fixed will be asked to sign a liability form that states they understand there are no promises on fixing the problem, as some repairs take more time and resources than what will be available at the fair.

“We’ll absolutely try our best to fix any problem presented to us, but that being said, some things require a lot of attention. If we fixed every huge appliance, we wouldn’t have time to get to everyone,” Rulla said.

To best ensure that your item can be fixed though, bring along anything you may need to help fix it: cables, chargers, old instruction manuals, etc.

For those people who have a knack for fixing things, and are interested in getting involved with the Repair Café, you can stop by Gresham City Hall for more information.

“We’re always looking for more volunteers, specifically people who know bikes at the moment,” Rulla said.

Along with the fair, there will also be various workshops educating visitors on how to conserve water, prevent pollution, lower home-energy use, and tips on how to inexpensively renovate a back yard.

The workshops will be located in the Jazz Café and Town and Gown rooms. They start at 11:30 a.m. and will end at 2:15 p.m.

More than 15 different local exhibitors will be attending the event, each with their own environmentally friendly specialties. One of the most prominent contributors is known as the 2017 EcoChallenge.

MHCC was first introduced to the EcoChallenge last year, after the Mt. Hood sustainability director, Troy Builta, began challenging Saints students, employees and community members to earn points towards bettering the environment. Participants earn points by completing challenges; from adding a profile picture to their page, to composting their own food. Each point gets users closer to prizes.

Last year MHCC took first place in the national EcoChallenge and won $1,500.

This year’s challenge begins on Wednesday and ends Oct. 25. Within those two weeks, anyone connected with the Sustainable Saints team can earn points for the school. Anyone can visit 2017.echochallenge.org to sign up.

Also during Saturday’s event, there also will be educational learning activities for children, as well as giveaways for adults, including free coffee, raffles, and tours led by the Sandy River Basin Watershed Council.