November 2023

The Birth of LOVE RE:PAPER

Ki Woo-jin has been volunteering with the elderly at a youth service organization since 2013. He was picking up discarded paper with the elderly one day when he realized the discarded paper could be used as an eco-friendly resource that would also secure an income for the elderly. That realization is what led to the creation of the social enterprise LOVE RE:PAPER.

LOVE RE:PAPER buys discarded paper collected by the elderly at a price that is three to four times higher than what they would receive from a junk shop. Full-time elderly employees are then able to clean and process the discarded paper to turn it into canvases. The canvases are sent to roughly 400 artists who have agreed to donate their talents. The works created by artists are sold both online and offline. Proceeds from the sales are used to pay the employees. They are also used to provide support for various projects offered for the elderly in need.

The elderly who pick up discarded paper have been given the name ¡°resource recycling activists.¡± The idea for the name came from the fact that the elderly who pick up discarded paper are the leading activists for eco-friendliness and recycling. ¡°We want to acknowledge the elderly, not pity them, for picking up discarded paper as they are environmental activists who are actively saving the planet and engaging in eco-friendly practices.¡±

The Lives of the Elderly Begin Again

The ¡°ly¡± in the word ¡°lovely¡± was changed to ¡°re¡± in the name LOVE RE:PAPER to represent the meaning of rewrite. ¡°I really don¡¯t have any talent when it comes to naming. It was a college student who suggested we change the ¡®ly¡¯ in ¡®lovely¡¯ to ¡®re¡¯ one day when we were working on a project. The name gave us the chance to include the ambiguous meaning of ¡®recycling paper with love¡¯ through the use of recycled resources.¡±

Reusing discarded items is not simply limited to paper. Ki thinks not only of giving items a new life, but also of elderly themselves. ¡°Our employees tell us that they feel excited when they fall asleep, as though they are children waiting to go on a picnic the next day. The elderly pick up discarded paper for a living, but they also do it because they¡¯re lonely and are looking for a way to talk with people.¡±

The number of elderly living alone has increased, which means that loneliness among the elderly has gone beyond a personal problem and has become a social one. Ki says that LOVE RE:PAPER not only reuses paper, but has also given lonely elderly people a new look on life.

LOVE RE:PAPER's flagship product, the messenger bag

Dreaming of a World Where Everyone Is Happy

LOVE RE:PAPER has not only worked on turning discarded paper into canvas, but also developing paper canvas by attaching discarding rice bags to old linen discarded from hotels The paper leather is made water-resistant through eco-friendly waterproofing. The messenger bags made from this material are quite popular as they are sturdy and large yet simple and casual in design. ¡°LOVE RE:PAPER considers design, functionality and eco-friendliness. Over 95% of the materials we use come from items that were going to be thrown away. In addition to reducing waste, the items we make also have a CO2 reduction effect as we use less water and electrical energy than existing fabric production processes.¡±

LOVE RE:PAPER seeks to create jobs and profit structures for the elderly while following eco-friendly practices. The time has come for businesses to upcycle in line with climate change and the aging population. When inquiring about Ki's future goals, the CEO gave an unexpected response. ¡°We must fail beautifully! However, going bankrupt does not literally mean bankruptcy. My dream is that we will one day live in a world where there is no need for companies like LOVE RE:PAPER.¡±

LOVE RE:PAPER looks forward to a day when everyone engages in eco-friendly practices together. The dream is to create a world that LOVE RE:PAPER has upcycled in which the elderly can wake up excited every morning.