Rethinking Reuse and Resilience in Depleted American Communities

University Of Maine, Orono ME

Investigators

Abstract

The research funded by this award will investigate the relationship between community resilience and the potential of reuse markets in the United States. Reuse is a growing sector of the U. S. economy. While "recycling" aims to recover reusable components and materials from waste to produce new goods, reuse refers to recirculating goods in their original form. Despite claims of economic and environmental benefits, reuse economies are significantly understudied, and empirical research is scarce. In this project, University of Maine anthropologist, Dr. Cynthia Isenhour, has partnered with economist Dr. Andrew Crawley, also from the University of Maine, to examine reuse markets and their potential to advance social and economic public policy goals. Isenhour and Crawley use an innovative combination of geospatial analyses, economic modeling, surveys, and ethnography to examine diverse reuse exchanges, their meaning, and their social, economic, and environmental potential at national, regional, and community levels. Reuse economies have deep historical precedent and encompass a diverse range of exchanges, including "take-it" shops at waste transfer stations, antique stores, architectural salvage, flea markets, community sharing initiatives, and web-mediated peer-to-peer sales. In this project the investigators define reuse as the redistribution of previously owned material goods, in their original form, from one agent to another through a transfer of ownership (sale, swap, barter, gift) or temporary use agreement (borrow, rental, lease, share, loan). Through national geospatial analyses and ethnographic grounding in rural Maine, Isenhour and Crawley will advance theory in studies of regionalism, place-based development, and local processes supporting economic resilience. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.