STOCKPILE ecorio
“Not just a recycling shop but plus something else”
STOCKPILE ecorio is an industrial waste management and upcycling company which has a warehouse size store in Oita, Japan. It was founded by Seiji Suyama while he solely ran an industrial waste management company. And he always held a feeling of “mottainai” or unsettling feeling about discarding waste that is still in a good condition.
So he established a store to give them another chance to be put to use. Although ecorio’s main job is still discarding industrial waste, he can now rescue some of the waste. He wishes that the shop will be known as “not just a recycling shop but plus something else”. This wish has been slowly spreading through his customers who love DIY and enjoy working their hands with raw materials.
Dismantling 160-year-old house
Given that ecorio’s main job is industrial waste management, I thought they got this job for discarding unwanted materials in the house. However, it was the other way around.
The owner of the house knew about ecorio and contacted them hoping that they would make use of things left in the house. When ecorio started working in the house, Suyama found a beautiful beam. In traditional Japanese houses, usually timber is used as a beam and because of its outstanding appearance, it is still appreciated today. Suyama negotiated with the waste management company to save the beam but because their job is to demolish the house as quickly as possible and it was not an easy job to save only the beam, unfortunately, they ended up demolishing it altogether.
However, they managed to rescue many things, even the flooring. Although the original owner of the house had already passed away, their sons wished that if anything could be saved they would have been happy for themselves and their parents.
When my grandmother left her and her husband (my grandpa)’s house, she seemed to miss it so much for a while. So I do feel that if anything can be saved and relive another life, it would have helped my grandmother to reconcile herself to the change she was going though much easier.
“Furuki yoki mono” (“good old things”)
Japanese vintage items tend to be undervalued compared to Western antiques in Japan.
We have a saying in Japan “furuki yoki mono” which means “good old things”. Over the years of collecting and mending the Japanese good old things, Suyama realised that “you have to touch and feel them to understand their value”. The old things still function perfectly after years of use because of the quality timber and strong foundation and structure. Also, many of the things are made by human hand and sometimes hand-carvings are beautifully allocated on them.
Mass production is popular today. And even wooden furniture starts to break after a few years of use. It may be new and function perfectly when you buy it, but he questions the value in these kinds of products.
“We have to walk away from mass production in the near future at least for protecting our planet. This is something I always think about and always being in our concept of ecorio.”
He also believes that after this COVID-19 pandemic and being in quarantine will shift people’s mind set towards using quality things.
“During the pandemic, some international trades stopped for example face masks made in China stopped coming in. And many people realised that if they had for example fabric face masks they could have washed and reused them without needing to buy new ones every time.”
I also agree with his statement. I hope people at least now see the value in investing in long-lasting quality goods and not to run for an easy option.
“Our customers often claim that the prices of our products are far too inexpensive. They tell us that our price is almost 1/5 of the average price you can find on the market. “
But he wants to keep the price affordable for his customers because one of the concepts of ecorio is to save the used items from being thrown away and to give them an opportunity to be used again.
However, this is a tough job to keep it going as it requires a lot of physical effort. Basically, he runs the company and the store with only three more regular staff and they do everything. And I mean everything from collecting the used goods (usually bulky), designing for upcycling, actually upcycling by hand which he self-taught himself, selling them in the store and sometimes delivering them to his costomers. It’s a lot of work and he adds, “there is an endless amount of things that can be saved”.
They also hold jazz and classical music concerts regularly. It started pretty casually that Suyama thought it would be nice to listen to jazz and classical music in this huge space after hours so he asked his musician friend to come and play. Just imagine entering a dimmed spacious store with a high ceiling, sitting in your favourite chair/sofa and listening to beautiful music… what a night.
Other than music concerts, they hold DIY workshops and pop-up events. I love how they are so active in engaging the local communities in a fun way.
And one last thing I thought about when talking to Suyama, I wonder how enlightened I’d be if I made decisions on where to live based on the good old furniture I love. I suppose many young students and young professionals including myself who live in big cities have no choice but to live in shared apartments or small self-contained apartments. So the priority is affordable rent and location of the apartment and rarely WHAT to live with.
But think about it, furniture is what you see and touch every day. They are literary in your room 24/7 existing with you. And if they last almost forever so that you can use them for years, you would build a history with the furniture and you might even feel sad if you have to let go of them and that shows your affection towards the furniture.
When I saw this desk from ecorio, I would have loved to have it. It’s sturdy, big and practical. It even has drawers behind it which therefore creates a large workspace on top and it’s perfect. Having said that, of course, the affordable rent and location win in my current living situation so it’s definitely not an option for now. But I just wanted to note that I’d never thought of an idea to decide where to live depending on the furniture I own. This may sound extreme and unrealistic but considering that you live with them every day, it should not necessarily be a totally out of place idea.
Especially after the pandemic and quarantine, a lot of us realised that a lot of us can actually work from home more than we thought. Plus, maybe you’d be more productive if you worked on the desk you love, who knows?
ecorio’s store is now open for business and Suyama and his staff continue to make the store an even more interesting place to hang and feel the good old things. Although currently, they are not shipping overseas, if you are visiting Oita (hopefully soon), ecorio is one of the places to visit along with hot springs and indulge in the good old things. Suyama also spent some time in the UK in his youth and keen on foreign cultures and expanding his business overseas. So if you see him in the store say hi and have a chat. He’ll be more than happy to walk you through the store.
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STOCKPILE ecorio
Address: 14–3 Nakakasugamachi, Oita, Japan, 870–0039
Opening Hours: 10:00–18:30 (Closed on Tues, Wed and Thu)
website: http://ecorio-oita.com
