ZERO (Zona Ecologica Riuso Oggetti)

Summary of the project

Why do we buy tools that we use for few hours a year when a single steam cleaner could be shared by a whole building or three drill machines could cover the needs of a whole district? Is it possible to find collective solutions for the sustainability of individual consumptions? The project ZERO aims at constituting a sort of “library of tools”, meaning a network to share tools, items, knowledge, within the Kalsa district in Palermo. Considering the nature of public space for sharing, the management methods, the circularity of loan dynamics, the ability to produce participation in the community life, that are the common features of a neighborhood library, the proposal intends to set up a loan service for common objects, integrated with meetings, courses and workshops on ecological practical skills. The goal is to generate a new cultural approach to the economy and consumption based on circularity, making a model concrete and functional for a central and historical district of the city of Palermo, but replicable in other areas. This way it will be possible to access items and konwledge as a ‘common good’ in an innovative way, to demonstrate that this shared system will produce a postive impact in terms of quality of life, reduction of the pollution and waste of resources.

Beneficiaries

• 800 residents of the Kalsa neighbourhood