BY HANNAH FORSE
TH E P R O BLE M The cycle of mass production and the fashion retail industry is one that is harmful from start to finish. The cycle begins with cheaply produced clothing which is then sold at prices allowing them to be seen as disposable by consumers.
THE PROBLEM
These products are eventually thrown away after a short lifespan, contributing to landfill. This cycle can be applied to everything from textiles, to plastic bags, to water bottles.
THE PROBLEM
CONTEXTUA L R E LE VAN C E It is personally relevant as it is something I see on a daily basis at my job as a retail sales assistant. Relevant on a global scale as the entire cycle of wastage caused by mass production negatively effects the environment.
CON TEXTUA L R E L E VAN CE
THE PROBLEM
Through the use of education, interactivity and creative collaboration through social media, I aim to limit the amount of unnecessary wastage of materials seen in Australia through repurposing.
RE SEA C H Q U E ST I O N THERPROBLEM
HOW CAN COMMUNITY AND CREATIVITY WORK AS A METHOD OF CHANGING PERSPECTIVE, ENCOURAGING REPURPOSING AND PREVENTING UNNECESSARY WASTAGE?
M ETHO DS: THE PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T THE P U R P O SE P R OJ E C T
An online movement hosted through a website, a forum and Instagram that aims to use community to encourage repurposing. Allows social media and forum users to display their own repurposing tutorials and ideas in any format for the chance to be featured. Aims to make repurposing & recycling seem trendy and stylish through a lifestyle based appearance and aesthetic. Focused on changing perspectives, educating the Australian public, raising awareness and physically preventing wastage through community.
M ETHO DS : THE PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T THE P U R P O SE P R OJ E C T
Created using digital outlets including a website designed with WIX, an Instagram account and a forum. Advertised using digital word of mouth and through Instagram advertisements posted to the organisation’s feed. Implements monthly workshops to encourage community, trading of materials and tutorials.
BUILDING WITH RECLAIMED COMPONENTS AND MATERIALS: A DESIGN HANDBOOK FOR THE PTHE U RAND PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T REUSE RECYCLING Addis, B. (2012). Building with reclaimed components and materials: a design handbook for reuse and recycling. Routledge.
The most powerful motivation for repurposing in design is provided by assessments of the environmental footprint of humankind. “if every country were to have the same environmental impact as Western countries currently do, we would already need more than three Earths to ensure our long-term, sustainable survival.� Allowed me to understand how factual evidence could be a strong motivation for the public to engage in repurposing.
Organisations using social media as a method of connecting with an audience should allow for interactivity and engagement. “Participants on Social Media applications have the desire to actively engage and to become both producers and consumers of information”
THE PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T
Allowed me to develop the idea of allowing users to have their own repurposing tutorials featured on the Project’s website and social media outlets.
USERS OF THE WORLD, UNITE! THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF SOCIAL MEDIA Kaplan, A. M., & Haenlein, M. (2010). Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of Social Media. Business horizons, 53(1), 59-68.
THE EFFECT OF THE P SYCHOLOGICAL SENSE OF COMMUNITY ON THE P SYCHOLOGICAL WELL-BEING IN THE PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T OLDER VOLUNTEERS Pozzi, M., Marta, E., Marzana, D., Gozzoli, C., & Ruggieri, R. A. (2014). The Effect of the Psychological Sense of Community on the Psychological Well-Being in Older Volunteers. Europe’s Journal of Psychology, 10 (4), 598-612.
Having a sense of wellbeing within a community can increase both mental and even physical wellbeing. “Psychological Sense of Community is the sense that one belongs to and is meaningfully part of a larger collectivity…feeling that one is a part of a larger dependable and stable structure”. Through community, individuals can feel a greater sense of accomplishment in their lives and selves. Influenced me to change the main topic of my research question from the influence of creativity on an idea to the influence of community. Allowed me to understand how community can encourage communication and collaboration.
UPCYCLE THAT JUDY ROM AND JACQUES KARSTEN
THE PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T Judy Rom and Jacques Karsten. “Upcycle That”. upcyclethat.com. “https://www.upcyclethat.com” (accessed July 28, 2017).
Online space that showcases repurposing tutorials using materials including plastic, rubber, wax, wood and more. Focuses on turning the old and no longer wanted into the new and stylish whilst preventing and raising awareness of the issue of wastage. Allowing their audience to engage in repurposing from their own homes, encouraging tutorial submissions. The Purpose Project was inspired by the way that Upcycle That use aesthetics to change the way recycling is seen as an unattractive idea.
“WHAT DO YOU SEE WHEN YOU LOOK AT THE MATERIALS AROUND YOU?
THE PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T GET INSPIRED TO SEE THINGS DIFFERENTLY!”
RECYCLART DIMITRI BOULZE AND THE QUENTIN PTHE U R PPROBLEM O SE P R OJ E C T JEANDEL Dimitri Boulze and Quentin Jeandel. “RECYCLART”. recyclart.org. “https://www.recyclart.org” (accessed July 28, 2017).
An online space that aims to encourage the act of repurposing, preventing and raising awareness of wastage whilst connecting and collaborating. Hosts repurposing tutorials, art pieces, interviews and more submitted by creatives throughout the world. Allows for interactivity, featuring a “do it yourself� page and a chat room where viewers can share repurposing and recycling ideas. Helpful in the research of online spaces encouraging repurposing outcomes from designers and people in their own homes.
“CREATIVE IDEAS B ASED ON REPURPOSED, RECYCLED, REUSED, THE P U R P O SE P R OJ E C T THE PROBLEM RECLAIMED, UPCYCLED AND RESTORED THINGS!”
REF LE C TIV E P R O CE S S “How can community and creativity work as a method of changing perspective, encouraging repurposing and preventing unnecessary wastage?� Changed campaign’s target demographic from being aimed at creatives to including a wider range of individuals.
THE PROBLEM
Removed Facebook as a social media outlet, including Instagram to provide a more visual and community based feed. Added a forum which allows users to ask for tips, share tutorials and trade materials, further increasing community. Changed advertisements from physical to digital to prevent wastage and work better with digital aspect of campaign.
C O NPROBLEM C LU SIO N THE
The Purpose Project allowed me to understand the ways in which a sense of belonging to a community can encourage and influence a general idea and movement in a positive way, creating change and preventing negative environmental impacts upon our planet.