The La Codornella cooperative, based in Manresa, stands out for its commitment to socially conscious engineering. Its founders, Aleix Badia and Pau Lafoz, along with Marina Lluch, work to move away from rampant consumerism through reuse and education, following the scouting motto of leaving the world better than they found it.
Under the motto “no siguis trasto” (don't be junk), the repair workshop opens every Wednesday afternoon at the cooperative housing building La Raval, on Hospital Street in Manresa. They contribute their experience, knowledge, and tools, with the help of volunteers like Jesús Tejero, to give a second life to broken devices.
“"We diagnose the problem, but we try to ensure that everyone fixes their own device."
In two and a half years, the project has managed to repair nearly 300 small appliances, preventing 800 kilograms of waste from ending up in landfills. The most common devices brought to the workshop are toasters, coffee makers, and irons, often affected by the high lime content in Manresa's water.
In addition to repairs, La Codornella promotes educational projects like ‘Transforma trastos’ (Transform Junk), aimed at 5th and 6th-grade students with the support of the Diputació de Barcelona. This activity teaches children to dismantle devices, classify materials, and reuse plastic to create new objects, such as pencil sharpeners, thus combating planned obsolescence.
