Plastic is good for some things, right? Like keeping us dry in the rain. A few months ago, Treehugger posted an article about eco-friendly umbrellas ^[1] ranging from those made from recycled plastic to one touted as the first biodegradable umbrella. So when my little blue umbrella broke, I considered replacing it with one of those — until I remembered that the most eco-friendly choice would be to repair the one I have!

The problem: One of the umbrella’s ribs was broken. (I now know it’s called a rib after finding an online diagram called Parts of an Umbrella ^[2].)

Upon close inspection, I could see that a Springy Part A needed to go back into Straight Part B.

But how to hold them together? Michael came up with the brilliant idea of using a straightened paperclip. And voilà!

I twisted the paperclip with pliers to hold it in place and bent it in a circle to keep it from puncturing the umbrella.

And here’s the finished product, complete with a few pieces of duct tape (which we already had) to patch a couple of little holes. The duct tape might not be beautiful, but it worked. Isn’t it nice when “green” and “cheap” get together?

This is nice too. Just because I couldn’t resist.

And now please check out Cat’s fantastic blog post about disposable umbrellas ^[3] and an artist who makes unique clothing and bags from donated old umbrellas. Fix first! Donate later.