Erik Chalhoub here, remembering early on learning “the Three Rs”: reduce, reuse, recycle.
It’s not just a catchy slogan, but a solution to a growing problem. ReGen Monterey’s landfill in Marina, for example, receives an estimated 550,000 tons of solid waste annually. The Johnson Canyon Landfill in Gonzales saw 226,758 tons in 2024-2025, according to the Salinas Valley Solid Waste Authority, and it’s filling up.
There’s an untold amount of tonnage that could have been avoided altogether if everyone followed the “Three Rs.” And there’s an equal number of things in the landfill that, with a little bit of effort, could have been fixed up into something just about new.
That’s where Repair Café comes in.
The worldwide initiative brings together handy volunteers in one place to fix things that need a little elbow grease to get them usable again. It could be a bicycle, an appliance, toy or even an article of clothing.
Marina resident Mike Moeller attended a Repair Café in Monterey as a volunteer in 2024 and “fell in love with the idea.”
“I’m a fixer-upper kind of guy,” says Moeller, who is also a candidate in a three-person race for Marina mayor. “I would rather buy something that is high-quality and repair it than buy some cheap garbage that is disposable.”
That led him to founding a Marina chapter of Repair Café, holding its first event in 2025 and another this past July, with the support of the Marina Rotary Club and City of Marina.
The next Repair Café Marina is set for Saturday, Sept. 19 from 11am to 3pm at the Rocky Han Community Center, at 211 Hillcrest Lane in Marina.
Moeller not only hopes people will come with their broken items, but he is always looking for more volunteers skilled in a variety of handiwork. The goal is to organize a Repair Café in Marina monthly.
Whether you sign up as a volunteer or bring a broken item, every act that keeps things out of the landfill adds up in the long run.