When my hot water heater died three months ago I was about to bite the bullet and spend $1400 replacing it.

But my neighbor, an enthusiastic MIT-educated licensed contractor with a passion for environmental solutions and a knack for taking things apart, had a greener (and cheaper) idea.

Cheaper to Fix it than Replace It
“I’ll take a look at it, offered” Nicolai Cauchy of HouseTechnic and general all-around problem solver. “If I can fix it, you’ll save some money, and it won’t end up in a landfill.”

That sounded good to me. Ever since 1987 when a barge dragged 3,200 tons of garbage 6000 miles up and down the east coast and around the Gulf of Mexico and the Bahamas looking for a port that would take its cargo, I have always worried we would eventually run out of space to put our trash.

Stop Filling up Landfills!
“Did you know,” Nicolai asked as he opened the top of my water tank and pulled out the remains of a corroded 24 inch anode rod, “that between five and ten million hot water tanks go to landfills every year!? We really should try to fix things before we consign them to the trash!”

Then he took off for Home Depot with a shopping list and a pencil sketch of a gizmo that seemed to have no name. Another couple of hours and my hot water heater was good as new.

“We did it!” he crowed enthusiastically! “We” was generous, since all I did was offer to make him coffee. But three months later, my new old hot water tank is still going strong.

I caught up with Nicolai again recently when he borrowed my driveway to replace the ball joints of his truck. It was the least I could do for saving me $1,000.

“Why do you shovel snow when you have a snowblower in your garage?” he asked as he removed the lugnuts from the right front wheel of his truck and laid them carefully on the asphalt.

Fix it, Don't Ditch it
I explained that my snowblower had been dead since I inherited it 10 years ago, but I couldn’t bring myself to get rid of it even though it was cluttering up my garage and I’d probably never get it working.

“I just fixed the lady across the street’s snowblower,” he said sliding the wheel off. “Why don’t I take a look at yours? Maybe we can fix it…although I’m against snowblowers in principle since they are environmentally unfriendly…”

Next thing I know, snowblower parts are decorating my driveway and he’s cleaning greasy buildup off various pieces, blowing on tubes, and testing valves. “You got some duct tape?” he asked holding up a piece of cracked plastic.

Another Landfill Contribution Averted
Half an hour later the snowblower is roaring hungrily and I’m getting a lesson on how to use the choke.

Turns out, Nicolai can fix just about anything; in addition to giving hot water heaters and snowblowers new leases on life, he can fix cars, bikes, lawnmowers, dishwashers, washers and dryers, and probably any number of other appliances…and he can do it in six languages; he is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English, Italian, French, and Russian – ok, ok, he says his Russian is a little rusty.

His specialty is Sustainable Construction and Environmental Strategies (including resource optimization for small businesses). As a contractor and engineer, he uses recycled building materials, reconditions appliances rather than buying new ones, and applies global long-term strategies rather than short-term quick fixes for energy saving.

So next time something breaks, before you buy a new one, think about fixing the old one. We’re a consumer-oriented society, and new things are easy to come by. But in the current environmental and economic climate, if you can repair an appliance instead of replacing it, you’re doing two good green deeds -- saving money and saving mother earth.

I might even let you borrow my neighbor, Nicolai. He's at HuronRepairs@gmail.com.