Repurposing for Resilience Eurobodalla is holding a free workshop on Saturday 17 May. Photo: RfR.
The resourceful bunch of volunteers at Repurposing for Resilience Eurobodalla (RfR) have another feel-good story that is a win-win for the community and the environment.
RfR is holding a free computer workshop that will boost the community’s IT skills and upgrade computers that were destined to spend their remaining years as e-waste or in landfill. The upgraded computers will be gifted to where they will have most impact in the community.
The five-hour workshop on Saturday 17 May includes free morning tea and a barbecue lunch.
Founding RfR member Lisa Cornthwaite said it was a fabulous project through which people could learn as much or as little as they liked, and the upgraded computers were gifted back to the community where they belonged.
“It saves computers from landfill, up-skills the community and provides free computers to the community,” she said. “It is a real circular economy approach.”
The project began when a government department whose computers are regularly replaced gave RfR some computers. That coincided with RfR finding a heap of computers at the Moruya tip headed for landfill.
RfR needed money to make the windfall of 25 computers useful.
A fundraising campaign launched in July 2024 resulted in $480. It raised a further $1000 by selling food and beverages at Cobargo Folk Festival. Then like-minded community organisation Southcoast Health and Sustainability Alliance (SHASA) generously donated $1000 cash.
Tim Cook of Tim’s Computing with Repurposing for Resilience Eurobodalla volunteers. Photo: RfR.
RfR’s extraordinary run of luck continued when Canberra web, server and email hosting business GoHosting donated 10 server-grade solid state drives, each able to store a terabyte of data.
The $2480 cash enabled RfR to run the workshop and buy any necessary software.
The blessings continued when Tim Cook of Tim’s Computing and Trish Pye of Tec Exec came on board.
“We approached them, but they are gifting us their time,” Ms Cornthwaite said.
Mr Cook will be taking the lead and facilitating the workshop. He will pull the computers apart, remove the solid state drives, and reassemble them.
Ms Pye’s role revolves around software education.
“Trish is really good at the user interface so between the two of them we are covering all bases,” Ms Cornthwaite said.
The computer workshop is for people of all skill levels and participants can learn as much or as little as they like. Photo: RfR.
The workshop caters for all skills levels from absolute beginners to some very tech-savvy people who are joining the workshop to help upgrade the computers.
Ms Cornthwaite said it was a lovely collaboration between a not-for-profit, community, and local and interstate businesses to keep the computers circulating at their highest value.
“If we can upgrade them and keep them going for a few more years, why wouldn’t we?”
RfR will give the upgraded computers to community organisations to disburse, but if some workshop participants could really use a new computer, RfR may give them one, particularly after putting in the effort to upgrade them at the workshop.
“It has been one of those things we stumbled across. Something in the universe told us we should be doing something when we received the government department computers, yet it took such a long time to raise the funds,” Ms Cornthwaite said.
“The open access style workshop allows a practical opportunity to upgrade the computers for extended community use and is also a fantastic free opportunity for participants to access the skills and expertise of these two businesses, ” she said. “Although it isn’t a huge number of computers, it will have a huge impact on the community.”
The 17 May workshop starts at 10 am at RfR’s community solar reuse centre in the Moruya Transfer Station at 21 Yarragee Road in the industrial estate.
Registration by email to [email protected] is essential.
