A new project by recent Eindhoven grad Eugenia...

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[Background on, & press coverage of, Unconsumption can be found here and here.]

Consumption is a word used to describe acts of acquisition – generally, the acquisition of things, in exchange for money.

Unconsumption is a word used to describe everything that happens after an act of acquisition.

Unconsumption is an invisible badge.

Unconsumption means the accomplishment of properly recycling your old cellphone, rather than the guilt of letting it sit in a drawer.

Unconsumption means the thrill of finding a new use for something that you were about to throw away.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a service like Freecycle (or Craigslist, Goodwill, or Salvation Army) to find a new home for the functioning DVD player you just replaced, rather than throwing it in the garbage.

Unconsumption means enjoying the things you own to the fullest – not just at the moment of acquisition.

Unconsumption means the pleasure of using a pair of sneakers until they are truly worn out – as opposed to the nagging feeling of defeat when they simply go out of style.

Unconsumption means feeling good about the simple act of turning off the lights when you leave the room.

Unconsumption is not about the rejection of things, or the demonization of things. It’s not a bunch of rules.

Unconsumption is an idea, a set of behaviors, a way of thinking about consumption itself from a new perspective.

Unconsumption is free.

CONTRIBUTORS:

Founder & Editor: Rob Walker, journalist, Savannah, GA

Editorial & Community Manager: Molly Block, marketing and business development geek, Houston, TX

Brian W. Jones, designer & writer, Göteborg, Sweden

Kashvi Kumar, Environmental Studies and Economics major at New York University

Deirdre Nelson, ever threading artist, Glasgow, Scotland

Shanna Trenholm, writer. catalyst. force of nature. San Diego, CA

* * *

Alumnus & Unconsumption logo creator: Clifton Burt, graphic designer, Portland, OR

Further information about Unconsumption can be found here.

12:41 pm - Fri, Jan 13, 2012: 158 notes

A new project by recent Eindhoven grad Eugenia Morpurgo challenges consumers to take matters into their own hands by empowering them to maintain their canvas flats with a kit of replacement parts.
Morpurgo’s Repair It Yourself shoes snap together and come apart easily so that the insole and outsole can be replaced. Three separate kits equip users to mend the uppers by darning, patching, or felting.
According to the designer:
“Shoes are one of those products that, with the rise of consumerism and mass production, evolved drastically from a completely repairable object; and the active social-economical structure that existed around shoe repair is slowly disappearing… . This project brings back in the hand of the consumers tools and knowledge for repairing.”

(via Almost Genius: A Modular Kit Of Shoes, Which You Can Fix Yourself | Co.Design)
More on mending in earlier Unconsumption posts here.

High-Res

A new project by recent Eindhoven grad Eugenia Morpurgo challenges consumers to take matters into their own hands by empowering them to maintain their canvas flats with a kit of replacement parts.

Morpurgo’s Repair It Yourself shoes snap together and come apart easily so that the insole and outsole can be replaced. Three separate kits equip users to mend the uppers by darning, patching, or felting.

According to the designer:

“Shoes are one of those products that, with the rise of consumerism and mass production, evolved drastically from a completely repairable object; and the active social-economical structure that existed around shoe repair is slowly disappearing… . This project brings back in the hand of the consumers tools and knowledge for repairing.”

(via Almost Genius: A Modular Kit Of Shoes, Which You Can Fix Yourself | Co.Design)

More on mending in earlier Unconsumption posts here.