In this episode, we travel to the northwest of England to meet Dave and Anne Carlos, co-founders of the West Fleetwood Computer Clinic. Set up by the Emmanuel Church, this Computer Clinic wants to serve the community by lowering people's barriers to technology, while making devices last for longer. We interview Dave Carlos, and we hear from various organisers, fixers and attendees of one of these 'clinics', which take place at the Rossall Tavern, the local pub.

Lowering barriers to using technology

At the West Fleetwood Computer Clinic, anyone can get help with technology. A team of 'geeks', as they proudly call themselves, will have a look at your device, and help you maintain it, repair it... or simply use it better!

The area of Fleetwood used to be a prosperous fishing town, but it has been deeply affected economically. Most people can't spend much on technology, and hence they can find it hard to repair their products. Even getting help with software, or getting simple tips to use your devices, can be hard. In this context, the Computer Clinic has created a space for digital inclusion, where money, and knowledge, are no longer such high barriers to own technology.

Like at our Restart Parties, there is no cost for attending the clinics. Also, even though the Computer Clinic is set up by the Emmanuel Church, any one - participant or organiser - can be part of the events, whatever their faith.

Part of a wider movement

We got in touch with the West Fleetwood Computer Clinic when they signed the Manchester Declaration. As Dave Carlos told us, they joined the declaration for a clear reason:

    "anybody who's ever worked on a laptop knows that it is not meant to be repaired [...]. The Manchester Declaration is not only talking about the fact that we need more repairable kit. But that manufacturers have a responsibility to make it repairable."

Rob Ginny, Pastor from the Emmanuel Church, also reminds us that the Church as an institution generally needs to catch up with environmental matters. With this mindset, supporting a movement where people reuse instead of throwing away, seems like the right direction.

People come to the repair movement with many different backgrounds and perspectives. The West Fleetwood Computer Clinic is putting humans at the centre, thinking further than their own community. They are now recording repair data through the Fixometer, and they are part of the wider network of communities who are fixing to improve life for each other, and for the planet.

Restart Radio

Restart Podcast Ep. 42: A Computer Clinic for the community

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We talk about the climate crisis and the concept of deep adaptation - the idea that we will need to radically change our lives in the face of global changes.

From worker rights to Norway's right to repair
First, we discuss some news. Female workers at South Korean semiconductor plants are at much higher risks of leukemia and other cancers than their male counterparts. This research examined 201,057 current and former workers at six semiconductor companies, including Samsung Electronics. We also comment on the story of a Samsung LCD worker who has finally received "work accident" recognition 15 years after developing a brain tumour.

On more positive news, we discuss plans from France to ban unsold electronics and clothes from being destroyed, as part of a new circular economy law. While we welcome this initiative we do wonder: what will happen to these products when destruction is banned?

Lastly, we talk about latest right to repair news from Norway, where professional repairer Henrik Huseby met Apple in court for a second time, after Apple appealed losing in its lawsuit last year. Like Huseby, many repairers face barriers to get spare parts and have to use refurbished screens which Apple absurdly claim are 'counterfeit'.

The climate zeitgeist
A climate emergency has been all over the news in the UK recently. From Sir David Attenborough taking a big stand on the climate, to Greta Thunberg’s visit to Parliament, to Extinction Rebellion’s protests. Different target dates have been set for net zero emissions, by different groups in the UK. (Since we recorded this episode, the UK became the first country to set a netzero target by law.)

We explore this current climate crisis and then talk about the concept of deep adaptation - the idea that we will need to radically change our lives in the face of global changes. What will our life, and that of future generations, look like in 10 years?

Then, we play a clip from Restart Party goers sharing their views on the latest climate science. These include a fear that we will not have the resources to maintain our way of living, and suggest that we will need to extend the lifespan of the products and materials that we buy. They also point to the sometimes confusing balance between where responsibility should lie: is it about focusing on the micro-actions or about pushing governments for high-level change?

Inspired by Mary Heglar's essay on sustainability and personal action, we talk about the power in magnifying our individual acts, and escalating our everyday frustrations to seek change.

And while we must work urgently to avoid run-away climate change, we conclude that we also need to start envisioning what a radically changed world will look like, and what we will lose. (We ran out of time and didn't do the topic of "Deep Adaptation" justice at all. But we've added some more links below that go into greater depth on the topic.)

Links: https://therestartproject.org/podcast/climate-anxiety/

[Featured imaged from Extinction Rebellion]

Restart Radio: Climate anxiety and deep adaptation

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Ravi Agarwal is a multifaceted artist and activist based in New Delhi. We hear Ravi's reflections on his life between disciplines, and we learn about the work of his NGO, Toxics Link. We talk about the toxicity of e-waste and the threats it poses to people working in recycling sites.
Ravi's activism and Toxics Link

Ravi tells us about the start of his activism when as an avid birdwatcher, he helped lead a campaign to protect the Delhi forest. Moved by his capacity to work for change, he then got interested in waste issues and eventually founded Toxics Link.

Toxics Link was a pioneer organisation researching electronic waste in India, as well as influencing the first national e-waste legislation in India. They also focus on all other kinds of waste streams, from plastics to municipal waste or biomedical waste.
Electronic waste and human health

Ravi walks us through toxic materials in e-waste. There are almost 50 of them in various ranges of toxicity. From heavy metals like lead or mercury to flame retardants. (The latter are chemicals present in plastics which protect cases from fire, however they can cause cancer when released from the case).

So when electronics are not recycled properly, these toxic components can become very threatening to human health and the environment, and particularly to workers in recycling sites in India. Ravi tells us about the associated long-term health effects that result from the exposure to these toxic materials, which can also be passed on to their children, for instance through breastfeeding.
Merging art and activism

We hear about Ravi's solo show 'Ecologies of Loss' where he examines how people relate to their environment. We talk about the reception of Ravi's work, both in India and worldwide, and we reflect on his way of balancing his art and activism.

Ravi describes himself as an artist, photographer, environmental campaigner, writer and curator. While seemingly complex, he says that all these processes inform each other - in his own words, "we all inhabit the world in many forms at the same time".

Links: https://therestartproject.org/podcast/ravi-art-ewaste/

[Featured image by Ravi Agarwal]

The Restart Project Podcast

Restart Podcast Ep. 43: A life in art, activism and electronic waste with Ravi Agarwal

With Restarters Ben Skidmore and Dave Lukes, Ugo discusses some tech news and then dives into the world of repurposing computers - how can we give them a second life?

From charges against Samsung to the 'ebook apocalypse'

In France, a court has charged Samsung Electronics with misleading claims regarding labour rights violations, including the exposure to chemicals or breaking up labour unions at its Asian factories. We discuss the importance of this case and how these charges will probably unfold further, and look at other manufacturers too. Regardless of the final outcome of the case, we hope to see more publicity around it across Europe.

We also talk about the Microsoft 'ebook apocalypse', as the company is removing all purchased ebooks from user's libraries. We reflect on our ownership of online products, which manage our right to access rather than own these items. Sticking to Microsoft, we note that CERN, the physics research centre in Switzerland, has decided to move to open source due to Microsoft removing their status of 'academic institution', which resulted in higher fees.

The second lives of computers

Inspired by a thread on our online forum, we talk about repurposing old computers, including 'obsolete' ones. We talk about the importance of open source software, often underestimated. For instance, when devices are not well supported by mainstream operating systems, or even become fully unsupported, open source alternatives can extend the lives of our devices. We can also give new uses to them, like repurposing them as miniservers for backing up media files or even... for playing retro computer games, like Ben!

Despite seemingly technical hacks, we discuss the availability of guides and feedback online. We also talk about the option of reusing components when our computers fail (normally it is only one component that fails!). Keyboards, mouses, or even display, can all easily have a second life.

Finally, we discuss the dilemma around energy efficiency when using old devices, in context with the embodied energy involved in the manufacturing of products.

Restart Radio: The second lives of computers

“I wanted broadband”, says Chris Conder, co-founder of the Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN). We learn from the bold initiative of a community in Lancashire who simply wanted access to the Internet and decided to start their own community-run broadband infrastructure.

Throughout our interview with Conder, we also hear from B4RN volunteers, staff and participants at their “Computer Clubs”, where people get technical help with their broadband.
Internet access in rural areas

Broadband doesn’t reach everywhere, because it is not profitable enough for big operators, and the British government does pressure for greater reach. Conder stresses that fibre broadband does not go directly to every home, but rather depends on the phone line and, if you live far away from the cabinets, you will hardly get connection. And you will pay the standard price.

This in an issue across many rural areas in the UK. But neighbours in Melling, rural Lancashire, desperately wanted quality broadband for their community. So they teamed up with Barry Forde, former Head of Technical Services at Lancaster University. He was determined to get a fibre feed into each village in the area and start the infrastructure that became B4RN.
The role of B4RN

After trying various other projects and collaborations with the local university, they found that they needed to take ownership and run the project themselves.

B4RN has changed the scenario by running a fibre to every single home, now over 5000 properties across more than 50 parishes. Thanks to “total madness”, in Conder’s words, and to a lot of determination. They have just exceeded a crowdfunding target to expand further.

The initiative is run by staff and volunteers, but also each home gets actively involved, sometimes digging their own gardens themselves to set up the fibre!
Connecting the community

Beyond connecting to the Internet, people have connected with each other thanks to B4RN. Conder describes how neighbours have gotten to know each other through the project, helping each other setting up the system, digging gardens or solving technical questions.

B4RN is also a “community benefit society” employing over 30 staff and hundreds of volunteers in the area, increasing the opportunities for locals, and especially the younger ones, to live and work in their villages.

While broadband for this area was not seen as profitable, it has other difficult-to-quantify value, like contributing to community cohesion, education and disaster preparedness. B4RN sets a standard for resilient, community-based use of technology and the internet, and serves as an inspiration.

Links: https://therestartproject.org/podcast/b4rn/

Feature image by B4RN.

Restart Podcast Ep. 44: Community infrastructure with Broadband for the Rural North (B4RN)

The Restart Project is a social enterprise that encourages and empowers people to use their electronics longer in order to reduce waste. Our mission is "to fix our relationship with technology." 

**UPDATE, 2019: We no longer publish our podcast here. PLEASE SUBSCRIBE via iTunes, Spotify, or our feed below**