The people quietly challenging Christmas consumerism

As Black Friday deals dominated shop windows and Christmas shopping is just around the corner, a small oasis in Floriana encouraged people to repair instead of replace.

Environmental NGO Friends of the Earth Malta hosted Roots and Reuse, a repair café held at their Floriana headquarters, just a stone’s throw away yet a world apart from the capital’s hustle and bustle. 

“We wanted to tie the event to Black Friday to get people to think a bit more before they just go out and buy stuff,” said 30-year-old project manager and junior climate energy mobility campaigner Martina Camilleri.

“The idea was, slow down and think about what you are doing and what you need. Maybe instead of buying, ask yourself, can you fix something that you have?”

Camilleri noted the difficulty in avoiding the season’s consumerism.

“I’ve been bombarded personally with ads throughout the whole week. Everything is telling you, buy, buy, buy! And there we’re suggesting, no, stop, think, do I actually need it?”

When Times of Malta visited the café, around 10 adults were sitting in a circle learning to knit, thanks to a workshop led by one of the NGO’s volunteers.

One of the members of Friends of the Earth with his toolbox.

Nearby, others repaired clothes using sewing machines, while some focused on electronics and watches.

In total, around 50 people attended the event. Outside, participants laughed in the November sun as they admired the community garden and indoors, others chatted over pastizzi as they shared repair skills.

“When you slow down a bit and start doing these things, you actually get to think about the items that you have more and what goes behind producing them,” Camilleri said.

She continued: “And the resources that you need and the materials that they have also inside of them.”

Although this was not the first repair café organised by the NGO, Camilleri said it was the first in a while. The strong turnout has inspired plans to host more such events, possibly in collaboration with local councils.

Roots and Reuse was held to mark the European Week for Waste Reduction and forms part of the organisation’s Zero Waste initiative, which promotes a circular economy and encourages extending the lifetime of everyday items.

Other initiatives include thrift shops, swap events and sustainability workshops.

Friends of the Earth Malta is a Maltese non-governmental organisation and part of an international network that works to ensure sustainable development and to protect all living creatures from the harmful effects of human activity.

One of the participants fixing a cardigan.

People working on fixing some electronics.