So says Vasco Rossi (a very famous italian rock singer) in one of his masterpieces, 1996 sally song: according to fiore talarico, a 32-year-old optician, this could be the summary of the moment in which we are living; in this perspective, making recycled paper furniture is a beautiful idea, certainly not new, but always interesting
May the progressive return to the “new normality” doesn’t take us unprepared! Our task now is to plan or at least think of a new lifestyle that knows how to coexist with return risks and knows how to deal with them, perhaps with a renewed life and nutrition style, use of natural resources, body and mind training, less waste and more immune defenses. We need a total restoration of what are the natural balances. The world had to run for recovering all that was its… life! That life that has been taken away from him for too long without any pity by those who were hungry for power and by those who thought of using the Earth without ever giving her anything in return … not even a thank you. Perhaps all this indifference 
and inhuman scarring is a contributing factor to the current pandemic, but in any case, once we start again we will find a place different from how we left it, healthier but still weak, more empty of people and more full of nature, fairer for his canons. To return to normality we will have to have grace and gratitude, the Earth needs gratitude, an essential value that ensures durability for everything.
Man will therefore have the first task of committing himself to use all the waste he has produced and hidden so far in the various corners of the globe, to recover it, restore it and then put it back on the market. The solutions are there and are the only way to ensure a healthy life for our Earth and consequently for us. Everything comes from nature, then is modified, used and finally trashed, but the resources are running out and we have to restart the production chain with eco-sustainable methods and a thrifty use of environmental resources.
Give value to something that already has it: paper
From this arises the need to give again value to the local production of each territory by exploiting the waste produced and also restoring value to the local workforce by exploiting the workforce that has remained on the margins but has much to give. I refer to all those people who have educational qualifications but are out and don’t work, or who have lost their jobs after a life of work and sacrifices, or who honestly try to give a contribution to the community but cannot get what they need.
I am not proposing anything new but starting and planning is fundamental to obtain results, especially if you already have an idea on what to do. I therefore turn to companies that manufacture machines and equipment for processing recycled paper, which could therefore produce panels of rigid cardboard, corrugated cardboard, honeycomb to be transformed into furnishing objects. This will give paper the opportunity to find new life and give a lot to do to people with different attitudes: from the engineer, to the storekeeper, to the creator, to the organizer, to the transport operator; to the telephone, orders, cutting, machines, packaging operator and much more.
Face to face with Fiore Talarico
Have you thought about this project at the moment of the forced stop that we are experiencing or it was a dream in the drawer for some time already?
“The project in question is an idea that has flashed in my head for about a year, being a fan of ecology in all its forms and looking for ideas on the internet to furnish home I came across advertisements that related to cardboard furnishings. Curiosity prompted me to deepen my research and I realized the effectiveness of the product as it is very resistant, eco-sustainable and of considerable value from the design point of view.
The quarantine has helped me find time to deepen and get in touch with journalists and designers in the sector and gather more detailed information on the matter. So the lockdown definitely supported me”.
What is your relationship with the world of cardboard? What do you know about this material?
“I do not have a real relationship with cardboard, besides consuming a lot of it because of my work where in the store I often get goods placed in cardboard boxes: all this consumption of material made me think, even if I am aware, as I think anyone, of the fact that paper is one of the few products that has a truly great recycling potential”.
What to do to go from dream to concreteness of a project you believe a lot in?
“My dream is to create interior design objects that can take advantage of the used paper and all this could give the opportunity to many people without work and opportunity to get involved or get back into play through employment in a well-structured and focused on ecology company, to produce and then sell the products made”.
Why should a paper industry company contact you and what are your requests to the paper and cardboard sector?
“Probably my way of thinking based on the ‘do ut des’ concept foresees that if nature is well treated, there will be benefits for all the actors involved, so already this approach could be useful to companies so that they can evaluate my project; furthermore, since
I am 32 years old and I have been working since I was 17, I could be a person with enough experience to carry out this work, with boldness, concreteness, passion and commitment”.
