Recently I had the joy of a household appliance breakdown. My dishwasher decided to come to a grinding halt and emit a continuous beeping. I looked online and watched various videos on how to fix a beeping dishwasher, but still it refused to work.

This meant that dishes had to be washed by hand – something my partner Emma doesn’t mind doing and actually prefers over what she calls the “lazy machine”. I, on the other hand, much prefer sticking the dishes in the dishwasher and letting the machine do the hard work!

Not being the most practical person when it comes to fixing things, I was anxious that it might be something simple and that an engineer would come, press a button, and it would be working again. Then came the dilemma: do I repair it, or get a new machine? I was weighing up the cost of a repair versus a new model, with the internet pointing out that a new machine could be more economical and environmentally friendly. A real Catch-22 that many of us find ourselves in.

In the end, I called an engineer and took out a protection plan for both the dishwasher and the washing machine – both are six years old. I’m told the average life of a dishwasher is around a decade, so hopefully mine will last a little longer. The engineer came, replaced some parts, and thankfully, we have it up and running again.

This theme of repairing over replacing continued last week when I visited the Woking Repair Café. Run by Woking Environment Action, the monthly café rotates around venues across Woking and offers a new lease of life to items that might otherwise end up in landfill. I went to the café in Byfleet with a drawer from my wardrobe that had fallen apart, and a faulty DAB radio.

At St Mary’s Community Centre, I was greeted by a volunteer who asked me to fill in a form about my items – I had emailed ahead to let them know what I’d be bringing. First up was the drawer, then I went round again with the radio. Many repairs happen on the day, but in my case, both items were taken home by the repairers and I’ll be contacted when they’ve had a look, with a view to picking them up at next month’s café.

I saw all sorts of items being brought into the hall while I was there – from vacuum cleaners to kettles and pressure washers. What a brilliant idea, giving these items a second chance and diverting them from landfill. It’s a welcome move away from our throwaway culture as we become more aware of the environmental impact.

The next Repair Café is on Saturday 9 August at Old Woking Community Centre. Find out more at: www.wokingenvironmentaction.com/woking-repair-cafe/

You can listen to my Radio Woking shows every Sunday, 9am–12pm, and Wednesday, 7am–9am. Get in touch via email at [email protected] or send me a voice note at www.speakpipe.com/jonandrews