Support the independent right to repair electronics to help your electronics last longer and your money go further.
I grew up in a neighborhood where my dad was known as “Mr. Fixit.” Back then, repairing our broken items was an accepted practice – a completely different view from today’s world, where consumers are fighting for the right to repair their own electronics, farm equipment, wheelchairs, and other goods. Today, instead of heading to the local hardware store for replacement parts, our diverse collection of electronic devices is being discarded or, in some cases, “recycled” into ever-higher mountains of e-waste. Often, these items could easily be repaired if aftermarket parts were available.
Reuse, Recycle, Repair
Imagine purchasing an electronic device for $1,000 or more, only to find out that the screen has a small crack in it a mere two weeks after the warranty has expired. You may attempt to contact the manufacturer in hopes it’ll replace or repair the item. Lo and behold, since you didn’t purchase the extended service contract, it won’t. (Ka-ching!)
You’re told you can live with it or replace the device with a 20 percent discount on a new one. The manufacturer will make hundreds of dollars on your new purchase, and you’ll have little choice. In most states, the item isn’t reparable by anyone except the manufacturer. If aftermarket parts are available, you’ll void any support or additional warranty if the manufacturer doesn’t perform the repair.
Right to Repair Electronics
What if, instead, your state had laws for the right to repair electronics? The manufacturer would have to supply you with the option to purchase a new screen and instructions on how to replace it. The price would be considerably less than that for a new device, even with its “generous” discount. After all, the device wasn’t really that old and was functioning just fine, except for the crack in the screen. Even if you don’t feel confident enough to replace the screen yourself, an independent repair person could do it for you. The repairs would help you get the most out of your device’s lifespan – which for a smartphone could be about 4-1/2 to 5 years, according to computer experts.
Replacing your device rather than repairing it doesn’t only cost more money; quite often, it’s costing lives. You may think that dropping off your device for recycling is the Earth-friendly thing to do, when, in fact, it’s barely making a dent in the recycling of electronics. Only 20 percent of the 50 million tons of electronic waste produced annually is formally recycled. When we “recycle” our electronic waste, we merely move it to another part of the world, usually impoverished developing countries, where “urban mining” extracts tiny bits of precious metals for recycling while endangering the lives of workers in the process. According to CBS News, 1 ton of smartphones contains 100 times more gold than 1 ton of gold ore. Planned obsolescence and greed are increasing that inefficient, hazardous, and ever-growing mountain of e-waste.
So, what’s been done legally to combat this growing waste?
The State of the Union
On a global scale, 191 countries have supported the Basel Convention, an international treaty under the United Nations Environment Programme, which was created to prevent industrialized nations from exporting their hazardous and toxic waste to impoverished developing countries. The Basel Convention is intended to regulate the safe transfer and disposal of this waste, which includes discarded electronic devices. The U.S. is the only industrialized country that hasn’t ratified the treaty.
While U.S. ratification of this treaty is in legal and political limbo, a few U.S. states have stepped up to the plate and passed right-to-repair laws. Each differs in the specifics of how the legislation protects the right to repair.
In December 2022, New York became the first state in the U.S. to pass right-to-repair legislation for electronic goods, although medical devices, farm equipment, e-bikes, and more are excepted from the provisions of the law. The bill covers items purchased after July 1, 2023, with a purchase price above $10, and requires manufacturers to make parts, tools, and documentation available for independent repair. This law took effect in January 2024.
Right to Repair Colorado
In April 2023, Colorado’s governor signed the right to repair agricultural equipment and electronically powered wheelchairs into law, which went into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
Right to Repair Minnesota
On May 25, 2023, Minnesota lawmakers passed the Digital Fair Repair Act, which requires parts, manuals, and tools of most electronics sold on or after July 1, 2021, to be available to consumers or repair shops. Exceptions to the bill include medical devices, farm equipment, and video game consoles. This law went into effect on July 1, 2024.
Right to Repair California
On Oct. 10, 2023, California signed right to repair into law, requiring that manufacturers of electronic items that cost between $50 and $99.99 and were sold after July 1, 2021, provide documentation, tools, and aftermarket parts for those products for at least three years, while products costing $100 or more would require a seven-year period of the same. Alarm systems and video game consoles, however, aren’t covered by this law, which went into effect on July 1, 2024.
Many other states have proposed bills for legislation but are divided into the types of items that are covered and haven’t worked out the details yet. The three main categories of right-to-repair legislation are electronics, electronically powered wheelchairs, and farm equipment. Many manufacturers directly affected by these bills have been opposed to the additional requirements set by the legislature. Not only must they start providing support for tools, documentation, and parts, but they also must accept that these laws will likely affect their bottom line. At this point in time, only a few manufacturers have agreed to support right-to-repair laws.
The reasons for these right-to-repair laws are mostly no-brainer, but some are concerned that manufacturers may take this opportunity to inflate prices for parts and deflate prices for new items or make offers that are too good to pass up. Legislation should address these potential obstacles.
Supporting Right-to-Repair Laws
Right to repair isn’t easy legislation to create. It requires input from consumers, manufacturers, and watchdog groups to cover many complicated areas. The importance of the laws can’t be trivialized, since they affect consumer pocketbooks, freedom of choice, and environmental hazards. Let your state legislators know that you want them to move forward with right-to-repair laws by visiting www.Repair.org and clicking on your state to find the contact information for the representatives in your area. By supporting right-to-repair laws within your state, you’re working to ensure everyone has a choice to help conserve our natural resources. [If you’d like to get directly involved with right to repair, look for or start a Repair Cafe in your community. – Grit Editors]
Linda Bowen has been a contributor to Ogden Publications in the past for Mother Earth News magazine, and she lives in northwestern Connecticut. She’s a proponent of the Earth and all of its natural resources.
Originally published in the March/ April 2025 issue of Grit magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.