RE-USE.
Sustainable Behaviour.

Re-Use (2004) is a design project conceived to empower users to become “anticonsumers” by rethinking everyday paper consumption. Developed as a practical response to office waste, the project enables users to create notebooks using the verso of already-printed A4 sheets, transforming discarded paper into a functional and personal object.

Conceived as a concrete tool rather than a manifesto, Re-Use implements environmental sustainability through daily practice. The notebook system allows users to reuse single-sided printed pages to assemble DIY notebooks or agendas tailored to their own needs.

The project consists of two types of binders compatible with standard paper formats (A4, A5, and A6). The binding system exploits the universal two-hole punching mechanism commonly found in office environments, ensuring accessibility and ease of use without requiring specialized tools.

The cover is made entirely from recycled materials, including recycled leather (ricuoio®) and certified recycled paper. Its system-based design deliberately avoids the proprietary logic of conventional organizers, which impose fixed and non-standard formats. Instead, the two-ring mechanism allows users to personalize their notebook by adding, removing, and reorganizing pages over time.

By shifting focus from product acquisition to behavioral modification, Re-Use anticipates a dimension later formalized within Epistemic Design: design operates not only through new objects, but through the reconfiguration of everyday practices.

Displace — Re-Use displaces design from producing new stationery objects to reorganizing existing waste. The project shifts value from manufacturing to reinterpretation, relocating authorship from designer to user.

Expose — The project exposes the hidden waste embedded in everyday office routines, making visible the material surplus typically ignored or discarded.

Mediate — Re-Use mediates environmental awareness through a simple, reproducible system. Sustainability is translated from an abstract principle into a tangible and repeatable daily action.

Activate — The project activates users as conscious agents, enabling them to directly modify their habits and participate in sustainable behavior through hands-on reuse.

Re-Use frames sustainability not as ideology, but as an operational shift in everyday behavior. Through minimal intervention and systemic logic, it transforms waste into a site of decision and agency.