Joy & Connection in the Past, Present, and Future of Reuse
A conversation with Jo Banner & Frankie Orona: Part II
Welcome to Upstream’s series examining—through storytelling, case studies, and interviews—the principles of a Just Transition and how reuse is in conversation with every element.
This is Part II of our reflections on conversations with Jo Banner, an environmental justice advocate and the co-founder of The Descendants Project, and Frankie Orona of The Society of Native Nations (see Part I here). In this section, Jo and Frankie share the concept of reuse as a cultural inheritance and an opportunity for deep community connection and solidarity—assets that can and should be woven into a new reuse economy if it is to develop as part of a Just Transition.
Reuse was a Tradition Before it was an Innovation
One principle of a Just Transition is that it emphasizes solidarity, cooperation, interconnectedness, and social and public production. From Jo’s perspective, reuse practices fundamentally boil down to a culturally significant deep care and compassion for one another’s well being—and Frankie emphasizes how this deep care extends to the ecosystems within which we live.
Jo points out the deep interconnection between Jim Crow era Benevolent Societies and reuse practices. These mutual aid organizations supported Black individuals and families in areas such as medical care, life insurance, and banking when white institutions denied them access. Communities hosted dinners in which the funds raised would go to supporting Black individuals or families who were systematically and purposefully disregarded.
While these fundraisers still occur today, Jo suggests that the turn to single-use products has dampened community solidarity: “Now when you buy these dinners, they come on a disposable Styrofoam plate and then you take it away. Well, in the past, the people actually went to a hall and they ate together on plates, like a real plate. There was this whole different side where it was about the community of it all.”
Jo’s comment about connectedness in relation to reuse transcends community dinners. She claims that reuse is about more than what types of materials we use to eat or drink: “It's not about reflecting on a dish and it's not about reflecting even on the system. But it is about how this is a way for us to get back to touching base with one another and taking care of one another.”
In Indigenous communities where people are taught honor, respect and gratitude for the land and all that comes from it, Frankie says, “reuse means co-existing, finding ways to coexist and utilize the gifts presented to us” and return them to the earth when we have finished using them:
“We live in a big fish bowl where everything is part of a reuse system: the animals we are given for food and clothing, water we share with the land and animals that quench our thirst, help us grow or provide habitat. Even down to the tableware we eat from — barro or earthenware. Some indigenous communities still create tableware from clay. After the tableware is no longer usable, it is returned to the earth, to one day make more tableware.”
Jo and Frankie both vividly illustrate the need to expand our definition of and thinking about what "reuse" means — and take that into account when building reuse systems, so that this innovative new economy pays homage to all that it is descended from and doesn't leave behind those who hold reuse as a tradition first and foremost.
The effect of doing so highlights an essential element of a successful reuse system: joy. Beyond the systems and infrastructure, research consistently shows that humans are happiest when they feel connected—when they're part of something bigger than themselves. Reuse systems don't just reduce waste; they increase the touchpoints between people. Every reusable item has a story: it will be collected, washed, and returned to the system, used by someone else next week, becoming part of a continuous cycle of care and community. When consumers participate in reuse, they're not just disposing of an item differently, they are joining a movement. Even more critically, they are carrying on a well-established tradition initiated by communities whose stories are too often overlooked or intentionally eclipsed.
Thank you for following along. Stay tuned for Part III: De-Colonizing Branding & Marketing.
