Reuse-Regenerate-Renew-Reinterpret-Repair
Ways to document, research, think about, act, create

Using What is At Hand

• Visual documentation of everyday re-use of objects (i.e.: old plumbing as garden arbors)
• Ethnographic research about cultural acceptances of re-purposing tools
• Investigations about home-made or "folk" musical instruments
• Studies of inventors or marginalized scientists making new discoveries through use of "inappropriate" technologies or materials
• Interviews with office workers about the expediency of office tool use

Recycling Materials

• Ethnographies concerning why people do or don't recycle
• Comparative study of places where recycling works and doesn't work
• Studies that encourage creative recycling
• Studies that investigate the rewards and drawbacks of recycling

Assemblage and Reinterpretation

• Art history research of assemblage artists in the west and outside west
• Exhibitions on constructions and assemblages
• Creation of films that incorporate "found" footage
• Programs that encourage student and community re-incorporative artworks

Second-hand Transactions

• Ethnography on second-hand sales (i.e.: garage sales, thrift stores)
• Oral histories focusing on people's attitudes toward used or second hand goods

Reinterpretation through Repair

• Examinations of how restorations can give buildings and objects new uses
• Investigations about "fixing" as rejuvenation
• Research on how cultures respond to repaired works

Regeneration of Neighbourhoods and Communities:

• Documenting, through interviews, observations, photography, and archival materials the re-use of neighbourhoods (e.g South Loop-Chicago; East London Olympics 2012; East Berlin...)
• Working with a community organization and utilizing the methods of action research help to create and sustain social change
• Research on communities regenerating themselves because of shared interests

Reuse References

Chan, Ricky Y. K; Lau, Lorett B. Y. (2000). Antecedents of green purchases: A survey in China. . Journal of Consumer Marketing, 17, 4, 338-357.

(1996). Making source reduction and reuse work in your community: A manual for local governments. Alexandria, VA: National Recycling Coalition, Source Reduction Forum.

Angus Reid Group, Inc. (1996). GVRD waste reduction reuse & recycling attitudes residential telephone survey.

Caltabiano, N. J. & Caltabiano, M. L. (1995). Assessing environmentally responsible behaviour. Psychological Reports, 76, 3, pt 2, 1080-1082.

Corral V. V. & Figueredo, A. (1999). Convergent and divergent validity of three measures of conservation behavior: The multitrait-multimethod approach. Environment and Behavior , 31, 6, 805-820.

Corral-Verdugo, V. (1996). A structural model of reuse and recycling in Mexico.. Environment and Behavior, 28, 5, 665-696.

Corral-Verdugo, V. (1997). Dual "realities" of conservation behavior: Self-reports vs observations of re-use and recycling behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 17, 2, 135-145.

De Young, R. (1986). Some psychological aspects of recycling: The structure of conservation satisfactions. Environment and Behavior, 18, 4, 435-449.

Gigliotti, L. M. (1992). Environmental attitudes: 20 years of change. Journal of Environmental Education, 24, 1, 15-26.

Hormuth, S. E. (1999). Social meaning and social context of environmentally-relevant behavior: Shopping, wrapping, and disposing. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 19, 3, 277-286.

RCO Workshop Proceedings (1996). Implementing garbage user fees in Ontario. Toronto, ON: Recycling Council of Ontario.

Riggle, D. (1989). Only pay for what you throw away. BioCycle, February, 39-41.