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The Earth Day Repair Fair empowers community members to extend the life of their electronics through hands-on troubleshooting and repair.Ithaca TodayThe fourth annual Earth Day Repair Fair will take place on April 22 in the Gates Hall lobby at Cornell University. Local repair experts and members of the Cornell and Ithaca reuse community will be on hand to diagnose issues, teach basic repair skills, and help extend the life of everyday electronics like laptops, desktops, keyboards, and headphones. The event aims to reduce electronic waste and empower community members to better maintain their technology.
Why it matters
Globally, electronic waste continues to rise, reaching an estimated 62 million tons in 2022 – a figure projected to climb to 82 million tons by 2030. Events like the Repair Fair offer a local response to this growing challenge by promoting repair culture, reducing landfill waste, and encouraging more sustainable relationships with technology.
The details
The Repair Fair is organized by the Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science in partnership with the Cornell Computer Reuse Association (CCRA), Cornell’s Campus Sustainability Office, Sustainable Computing Working Group, R5 and Ithaca ReUse. Over the past three years, the event has helped keep significant amounts of technology in circulation, repairing or saving more than 30 desktop computers and laptops, restoring more than 15 monitors, and recovering countless cords and chargers. They have also donated roughly 100 laptops, keyboards and mice for reuse, and diverted more than 500 pounds of e-waste from landfills.
- The fourth annual Earth Day Repair Fair will take place on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 from 4-6 p.m.
- The event has been held annually for the past three years.
The players
Cornell Ann S. Bowers College of Computing and Information Science
The organizer of the Repair Fair, in partnership with several Cornell and local organizations.
Cornell Computer Reuse Association (CCRA)
A partner organization that helps collect and responsibly recycle electronics.
Cornell’s Campus Sustainability Office
A partner organization that supports sustainability initiatives on campus.
Sustainable Computing Working Group
A partner organization that examines the environmental impacts of computing.
R5 and Ithaca ReUse
Local partner organizations that promote reuse and recycling in the Ithaca community.
What’s next
The Repair Fair is a free and open to the public event, and will feature repair stations for a wide range of small electronics as well as a laptop teardown demonstration.
The takeaway
By hosting the annual Earth Day Repair Fair, Cornell and the local Ithaca community are taking proactive steps to address the growing global issue of electronic waste. The event empowers residents to extend the life of their devices through hands-on repair, reducing the environmental impact of discarded technology.
