Le Poulpe is what we call in french “une ressourcerie”. The word "ressourcerie" could be translated as “reemployment center”. A ressourcerie is a place where we give a second life to objects. People come to us to bring what they don't need anymore, then we repair and clean their donations to resell them afterwards. The fundamental objectives of the association are the ecology, by the awareness of environmental problems, and the solidarity by taking into account of the most fragile populations.
Local
France
Paris
Mainly urban
It refers to other types of transformations (soft investment)
No
No
Yes
2020-02-19
As a representative of an organisation
Name of the organisation(s): Le Poulpe Type of organisation: Non-profit organisation First name of representative: Manon Last name of representative: Hamelin Gender: Female Nationality: France Function: president of the association Address (country of permanent residence for individuals or address of the organisation)<br/>Street and number: 4bis rue d'Oran Town: Paris Postal code: 75018 Country: France Direct Tel:+33 6 18 28 59 47 E-mail:elio@lepoulperessourcerie.org Website:https://lepoulperessourcerie.org/
Le Poulpe is a non-profit organization that was born in January 2016. This project is part of the more global project of the Ateliers de la goutte d'Or, selected in 2018 as part of the participatory budget of the city of Paris. Indeed, the city of Paris supports the establishment of reemployment and recycling centers, as part of its local program for the prevention of household and similar waste .
The reemployment centers are also vectors of jobs around the reemployment. For every 10,000 tons processed, reemployment allows to create 850 jobs that cannot be relocated, compared to 31 for the recycling sector, 3 for incineration and 1 for landfill . In Paris, this represents 6,500 jobs.
Le Poulpe is a reemployment center based in the 18th arrondissement of Paris. As explained earlier, our main mission is to give a second life to the objects that people don't want anymore. Thus, we actively participate in the reduction of waste in our neighborhood. Which was really an important need in that place, because it was neglected from any ecological discourse, and from any waste management systeme. Also, we sell our goods at a very low price. Which is a key point in our neighborhood. Because it's a really popular one, most of the residents are in a precarious economic situation.
But, it should also be noted that, in addition to this first role, our premise is also a place of awareness toward the ecological question and of socio-cultural animation. We organize group activities and concerts every week to allow people in the neighborhood to have access to a culture they have been deprived of. Our monthly program is very rich which enables anyone to find an activity that they enjoy.
This organization employs twelve persons, with different expertises, different cultures, and different projects. We all are devoted to our organizations and its goals.
collective
solidarity
popular education
reemployement
awarness
The fundamental objectives of the association are diverse. First of all, the ecology, by the awareness of the environmental problems, the awareness of the capacity of collective action that every individual holds, the possibility of direct action by the use of the association.
At Le Poulpe we claim to be anti-capitalist because we are not making any profit, in fact we sell our goods at solidarity prices (25% of the new price maximum) or we give them for free. And our priority is the well being of our users and workers. As well, we are against speculation : our income goes directly back into the association. We consider that money is a mean and not an end: we only spend it for the organization. Additionally, the other reemployment or recycling centers are friends we want to help, not competitors
Furthermore, Le Poulpe defend the degrowth and the sobriety in consumption. We advocate for a thoughtful and reasoned consumption. We try to make our customers ask themeselves "do I really need this object?", before actually buying it. We claim to participate in a more ecological world, by privileging the re-use on the recycling, the repairable over the disposable. We propose actions of sensitization for the inhabitants (groups activities, learning, discussions). We value the purchase of second-hand goods rather than new ones. We try to boycott the big polluters Amazon, Google, Total, Veolia,...
Therefore, our model is sustainable: it tends to do as little harm as possible to the environment. We support a system of degrowth, against the current consumption model. At Le Poulpe, we know that humans damage the planet by their industrial, economic and daily activity. We consider that humans must participate in the well-being of his planet, by trying to reduce as much as possible his waste, his greenhouse gases, his footprint... And our actions permit to actively reduce the mass of the waste in our neighborhood.
The aesthetic of our place is particular. This makes each user's experience unique. Indeed, let's emphasize that our vast boutique (280 square meters) and our café (35 square meters) are made and decorated mostly with recycled items. We are not a place with a minimalist aesthetic, we prefer to create a cocoon where everyone can feel at home, with his past, his ideas and his culture. Many of our regular customers insist that they feel at home. This is the feeling we wanted to give at the beginning of this project, to create a place that can welcome everyone.
Our entire storefront is glass. This allows the light to come through at all times and the high ceiling allows you to fully appreciate the volumes that exist in our premises. This accentuates the pleasant and sunny side of this atypical place.
More than a purely visual aesthetic, the cultural side takes a vast place in this one. This is absolutely necessary in a neighborhood that is in constant cultural precariousness. Our goal is to inject the most accessible culture possible in a place where the accessibility of culture seems far from everyone's priorities. We offer free concerts every Friday in our association café. These concerts are almost always sold out and allow people to discover music from all over the world. We also make a point of inviting as many local artists as possible. Because if the random population of the district knows difficulties in its daily life, the artists know them even more. In addition to the concerts, we offer new exhibitions every month. Paintings, photos and texts have followed one another since our opening, but never have the walls of our café been left blank.
The regular reviews of the customers show their enthusiasm for the structure and show that this project is effective in its objectives.
Le Poulpe is also a social and cultural place that favors the link of socialization. It tends to make its users aware of the notions of ecology, environment, over-consumption, individual and collective responsibility. It tends to transmit tools of emancipation by the learning of various techniques of repair, of resourcefulness, of creation and by the provision of spaces of collective reflections. One of the vocations of Le Poulpe is to encourage voluntary work. It has therefore chosen a policy towards volunteers who want to get involved. It welcomes volunteers and considers them as collaborators.
No form of domination, discrimination or violence will be tolerated. Any violence, discrimination or domination will lead to a team discussion and collective decision making. At Octopus we are aware that many inequalities exist. At the Octopus we demand solidarity and diversity without compromise. We love all colors, all sizes, all sexualities, all sizes of purses, all human varieties! We do not accept intolerant people: racists, machists, homophobes, fatphobes, ... We entrust the same responsibilities to women as to men. We are vigilant to attitudes of over-protection, disempowerment, gendered specialization of tasks and chivalry.
We also have a social project called the "solidarity changing rooms". We redistribute free clothing and hygiene products to those in need every Tuesday. More than the donation, we also propose moments of listening, and learning about discrimination and means to fight against it. The public is oriented by the partner associations who provide them with an "equipment voucher" so that they can access.
They can seize two complete outfits per adult and an unlimited quantity for the children (within the capacities of available stock). Hygiene products as well as sleeping equipment are provided (within available stock) to homeless persons. A shower is provided for homeless people. We consider that solidarity is fundamental here, as elsewhere.
Thanks to our organization a lot of people, especially from the neighborhood, meet and mingle in our premises. One of the objectives of le poulpe in this context is to maintain this position within our neighborhood. By keeping to offer drinks -such as coffee or syrups- at open prices, we make sure to build a place of sociability for everyone, no matter their budget. The offer of open price group activities is a key point in our action, because we are settled in a neighborhood that has been neglected for too long by Parisian associations. For a few years now, the goutte d'or has known a rebirth of its associative life, Le Poulpe is clearly a part of it.
Le Poulpe has built a link of truth between the inhabitants and itself. Now we have many regular customers. The years have passed and the attendance of le Poulpe has become loyal. We intend to continue this phenomenon. In this perspective we frequently organize events. For instance, in December, we setted up a Solidarity Christmas party. We offered free shows and concerts, and we also prepared a lottery. We did this in order to offer the people of the neighborhood a time of celebration, entertainment and culture. We welcomed about 350 people.
Le Poulpe also allows people from the neighborhood to get involved in a civic way. The constant search for volunteers in the neighborhood and the local recruitment of employees are objectives to pursue for our association. As a result, the people of the neighborhood are impacted and are directly involved in the management of the place. There are people from the "solidarity changing rooms" who invest in certain activities of revalorization and sorting. One of the vocations of Le Poulpe is to encourage voluntary work. Thus, it welcomes volunteers and considers them as collaborators. It informs them about the aims of the Association, the content of the Associative Project, the functioning and the distribution of the main tasks.
If Le Poulpe could be born, it is first of all thanks to financial partners. Le Poulpe is supported by actors at different levels, there is the State and the prefecture, the region and especially the city. Because the city is one of our most important financiers and partners. Within the framework of the rise in power of the ecological concern, the city of Paris wanted to accompany the most of project being interested in it. Especially since we are located in a district that has shown a strong need for support in the management of its waste. On a smaller scale, SYCTOM, the agency in charge of waste maintenance, is a strong partner for us. Indeed, the remployment center participate directly in the reduction of waste by giving a second life cycle to objects that were destined to become waste. Still on a smaller scale, let's also count the social landlords. They help us especially in our actions of Bricolette Ambulante. Which is a mobile reemployment shop, it sets up in social residences in partnership with the social landlords. It has a truck fitted out and decorated allowing the installation of three small spaces: a collection point of bulky objects from individuals, a small store of recycled objects and a workshop space to raise awareness of the environment and the problem of over-consumption, all this accompanied by a snack.
But let's not forget our other partners who are not all our financiers. The association would not exist without its partners, friends and associative supporters. There are all the associations of the Goutte D'Or district which, these last years, have given a new life to the district. Thanks to them, Le Poulpe has been able to dynamize its position and to develop its activities of concerts with the other associations. Other partners are also to be counted, Le Poulpe is not isolated, thanks to REFER (Réseau francilien des ressourceries) all the ressourceries are partners and are regularly in contact to support and develop themselves.
Le Poulpe has a triangular base which is articulated around three well identified areas. These three areas are: art, craft and awareness toward ecology. This crossing of know-how, the idea of "doing it yourself" which meets the ecological question is a dynamic and effective addition. It allows our users and our team to think with a new eye on solutions to lighten the human impact on earth. Salvage is a way to make crafts sustainable. The two fields of ecological awareness and craftsmanship have met until they are intrinsically entwined.
Art also has its place in this triangular system of influence. This is also what makes the place original. The culture was necessary to give more distance and depth to the place. The eye of the culture influences the eye of the reemployment. These three fields interact and mix like the three primary colors. It is these fields that have formed such a solid base for the association. It is at the same time a place of awareness but also a cultural place. This is very visible in the group activities, there are both artistic group activities such as silk-screening, or learning how to draw comics, craft group activities, but also discussion groups. The commitment and energy that emanate from them combine perfectly in this place and create a strong and lasting commitment.
In order to make these three disciplines interact even more, we organize several times a year meetings between all the participants of all the workshops, exhibitions and concerts. Thus, we give them a space to meet and exchange around their actions and practices. This space is key in the construction of our place. Because more than the exchange between them, these participants with their visions allow the place to move forward. We are always looking for this crossing of visions so important for the life of our space.
.One of the main objectives of Le Poulpe is to make the general public aware of environmental issues, overconsumption, and learning to do things oneself through self-repair,, and DIY group activities. With the aim of accompanying residents, passers-by, clients, and beneficiaries towards a change in their eco-responsible and conscious behavior.
In order to do so, Le Poulpe develops many activities and animations in its café, but also outside its walls. The workshops also take place in the animation room which is on the 1st floor. It is bigger and more intimate. It hosts improvisation and yoga workshops.
The café is also a space of conviviality open and which wants to participate in the preservation of the social link of the district of La Goutte d'Or. It proposes coffees at open prices or drinks. And on Friday evenings, acoustic concerts are organized by local musicians. In 2021, it hosted 205 workshops at the café-atelier du Poulpe, almost 1000 participants in the workshops, 32 concerts by local musicians, 6 cultural events such as film screenings, theater shows or magic shows. And over the year, we are close to 1,500 participants in the events. Also, the Bricolettes Ambulantes tend to sensitize the beneficiaries to the existence of the resourceries, to the importance of reuse and to question the practices of over-consumption, while participating in the development of the social link in the neighborhoods thanks to the small friendly moment of the snack and to a pleasant reception. The actions covered 46 afternoons of animation, thus 46 workshops of sensitization and 1785 participants. Also, 7.7 tons of objects were collected in 7 territories of the Ile-de-France. These figures speak for themselves, we have succeeded in involving people from a neighborhood in economic and social difficulties within an association. We have carried out effective actions to raise awareness of ecology among people who had hardly even heard it before.
Our organization develops an innovative and efficient response to the objectives of public policies in terms of waste prevention. By responding to the needs of local actors in terms of waste management, by creating a short circuit of reuse, and by creating local services, especially collection. In addition to reducing waste and creating jobs, the reuse centers contribute to mobilization (on average one volunteer per employee created), to the creation of social links thanks to public reception areas, collective activities where people can meet and exchange and exchange practices. Finally, by redistributing goods at low cost, the structures of solidarity reuse participate in the increase of the purchasing power of the citizens. The sale of reused, recycled or created objects ensures a share of own resources and offers reassessed goods at low prices to people who need them. The solidarity store participates in the life of the neighborhood by offering a new way of consumption of common goods.
This innovative response to the ecological crisis is also coupled with an addition of very distant domains that meet here. Our project is based on a strong environmental commitment, the conception of a place to live in the heart of a neighborhood in difficulty and also a whole section of artistic and cultural creation. The clever combination of social and artistic aspects make our place very atypical and rich. This is what makes our recycling center unique among the dozens that exist in Ile de France. Indeed, at Le Poulpe we are convinced that no ecological progress will be effective if this struggle is not mixed with the social struggle. We have therefore put everything in place so that these two points are mixed in the project in a fair way. This is what makes us unique within the reemployment center. Our social project is a real advantage within our construction.
Our organization is an actor and a tool of ecology in the urban space. In order to encourage the emergence of eco-citizen behaviors and to improve the quality of life on its territory, it develops local services that create social links and innovative economic activities, with particular attention to reuse activities. It creates local jobs of social utility, and pays particular attention to the participative dimension of the action in order to federate the actors of the territory around a concerted social and environmental action. Let's underline that several levels support us in our project. From the State, to the city, through the region, it is this whole ecosystem that is mobilized to continue to make us exist via subsidies. In exchange, we are a key point in the ecological transition.
But let's be sure of one thing: we cannot be an island lost in the desert of the ecological crisis, we also need to network. As explained earlier, this is the role of REFER, by creating a network that allows us to develop an inter-reemployment center solidarity, this opens the way to our meeting and to our mutual aid. This point is very important in our methodology, because the reemployment centers are collectively launching a movement of ecological awareness in the individual which is very important in our collective journey of ecological transition.
But before the birth of this network, it is important to underline that a structure paved our way. It is la Petite Rockette, the first reemployment center in Ile de France. Some members of our team have previously worked there, which has helped us in the methodology of our construction and our perpetuation.
So our methodology plays on several tables, at the same time on the scale of our district, because it really needed a hybrid structure like ours. This hybridity requires the solidarity sale, the creation of jobs within the district and the eco citizen participation.
The reemployment center model is infinitely reproducible. That's why in Paris there is almost one reemployment per district. Ours has been inspired by other structures and inspires other structures. The creation of our place was largely supported by the Petite Rockette. This primo structure formed a launching pad for each reemployment center that preceded it. But let's stress that each place is unique and has its own specificity. Le Poulpe is also identified as a reemployment center with a strong social project. In this context, in order to support its reproducibility, Le Poulpe will intervene in the training of the people who are planning to work in the reemployment center to make its model reproducible.
Also, Le Poulpe regularly welcomes project leaders of reemployment and recycling centers. It explains to them the process of setting up a project, his workings, gives them a tour, accompanies them in their creation of budgets, status, provides them with the basic documents of the project, offers them to be a volunteer to learn the different jobs of the reemployment centers.
Finally, more than this accompaniment, Le Poulpe accompanies closely a project which will open in 2024. Indeed, at the beginning of Le Poulpe there were two premises for which the call for the project of Le Poulpe had been selected. As they were only going to set up in one of them, Le Poulpe proposed to supervise the team that will set up in the other one. The meetings have multiplied, the project has seriously progressed and thanks to a regular supervision, the accompanied team seems to be on the right track. It is not a question here of opening a second location and expanding. Le Poulpe is against an entrepreneurial model of infinite expansion. This second team will be completely independent and does not depend on le Poulpe, we accompany them without directing them. This horizontality between our two structures is very important to reproduce a softer governance at the heart of our concern.
.The main cause of our association's struggle revolves around ecology. It is a global problem that we deal with on several scales: both that of our neighborhood and that of our city. We do this thanks to our permanent premises. Indeed, a reemployment center is a place where all the objects and materials were donated by their owners because they do not need them anymore. It manages, on a given territory, a center of recovery, valorization, resale and environmental education. Its activity is included in the territory's waste management plan. On a daily basis, it gives priority to the reduction, reuse and recycling of waste by educating its public to acquire environmentally friendly behaviors.
The reemployment center implements waste collection methods (bulky items, etc.) that preserve their condition with a view to recovering them primarily through reuse or recycling. As a member of the solidarity economy and an actor in local development, the Ressourcerie weaves numerous partnerships, creates sustainable jobs, favors service to the population and is attentive to the qualification and development of its employees.
The sale of reused, recycled or created objects ensures a share of own resources and offers reassessed goods at low prices to people who need them. The solidarity store participates in the life of the neighborhood by offering a new way of consumption of common goods. The reemployment center offers second-hand products, diverted products and products made from recycled materials.
Finally, the solidarity store is a tool for "sustainable" consumption since the purchase of reused and reused objects reduces the pressure of this product on natural resources and the environment throughout its life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials to its treatment at the end of life.
