‘I used to be a magazine’
Droog releases ‘I used to be magazine’ by Ruben Iglesias.
Paper is part of our everyday life. We print, we read, we write and we waste tonnes of paper. The paper pencils are the first products produced after introducing UP by Droog. UP is an alternative way of dealing with dead stock. It proposes to reinvest in dead stock through design, introducing new functions, new aesthetics and new markets to leftover goods in order to bring them back into circulation. Renny Ramakers states: “It is one of the best kept secrets: everyday, tonnes of sellable products are recycled or simply destroyed worldwide, resulting in an unacceptable loss of material and energy. Recycling in practice is down-cycling; many recycled materials are processed into inferior products.”
Q&A with Ruben Iglesias, designer of ‘I used to be a magazine’
Q: Due to the increase in environmental consciousness in today’s society, a lot of waste is recycled. What do you think of this?
A: Most of the waste we produce is made of materials that are in perfect condition, even though they are discarded as “used”. The plastic of a water bottle or the paper of a magazine are examples of discarded materials that can be reused or transformed before recycling them. In fact, before we recycle we should always think of reusing and upcycling if we want to respect our environment.
Q: Can a designer be of any influence in regards to environmental consciousness of today’s society?
A: I think today more than ever designers have to unify environmental respect with form and function. When you design an object by reusing, upcycling or recycling discarded materials, you are also showing that there are many ways to do the same thing. As much as we support this kind of design, society will do the same. We have to realise that if we want to live in harmony with our environment, we have to recycle.
The pencils are made of leftover paper from newspaper and magazines by rolling paper on the carbon lead. In the production process they have used as little glue as possible in order to protect and achieve the desired quality and reliability. Every pencil is unique and handcrafted in a social workshop in the Netherlands.
Now available at Droog Amsterdam and at www.droog.com for € 8,75 (set of 5). Coming soon to retailers worldwide.