What is the toolkit for?

The toolkit focuses on how to enable people to circulate products between users, i.e. from use to use. The toolkit aids development of products and services for circular consumption processes such as renting, leasing, borrowing and buying pre-used products. Such circular consumption alternatives commonly entail other activities, decisions and everyday challenges compared to linear consumption. Today, the practicalities of circular consumption often make it inconvenient, time-consuming, or otherwise undesirable for people to pass products on from one user to the next. Designing products and services that make circularity preferable to people is hence key in the transition to a circular economy. 

While this toolkit focuses primarily on design opportunities for enabling a circular everyday and making products and services fit for circular consumption, many other aspects need to be considered when developing circular solutions. In order to design successful circular offers, you may also need to, for example: Make the design fit for circular production processes; Calculate and minimize negative environmental impacts; Develop a circular business model and optimise its viability; Initiate organizational changes and partnerships for circular ventures. Since the Use2Use Design Toolkit does not address such aspects in full, we recommend that you make use of additional tools and methods in parallel to improve your overall design and make it fit for a circular economy. For guidance on other tools and methods, check out the excellent Circular Design Guide provided by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and IDEO.