1
00:00:12,709 --> 00:00:15,668
I don't know you,
but I believe in coincidences.

2
00:00:15,669 --> 00:00:20,001
I think what happens to us in life
is all but casual; let me explain.

3
00:00:20,542 --> 00:00:25,460
1981: I graduate in Law,
but I don't want to become a lawyer.

4
00:00:25,501 --> 00:00:30,543
I enter into the commercial department
of a big company: I'll deal with sales.

5
00:00:31,834 --> 00:00:36,043
But after 14 years, the company decides
to cut the whole sales branch.

6
00:00:36,542 --> 00:00:40,876
Suddenly, I find myself with a team of 20
and no product to sell.

7
00:00:40,876 --> 00:00:43,335
No fear, I immediately find
another chance:

8
00:00:43,336 --> 00:00:47,043
now I'll deal with corporate art
and design items.

9
00:00:48,083 --> 00:00:52,001
But in life, as well as in business,
surprises are always around the corner.

10
00:00:52,002 --> 00:00:53,834
And less than two years after,

11
00:00:53,835 --> 00:00:57,458
my partner decides
to manage sales directly.

12
00:00:57,459 --> 00:00:58,750
So what does he do?

13
00:00:58,751 --> 00:01:03,377
He doesn't renew the contract,
and my best agent follows him.

14
00:01:03,918 --> 00:01:09,917
Once again, I'm left with no products,
and 19 people waiting for my decisions.

15
00:01:09,918 --> 00:01:12,335
Well, I can tell you,
if it never occurred to you,

16
00:01:12,336 --> 00:01:14,168
that's enough for someone to panic.

17
00:01:14,169 --> 00:01:15,876
But the way I'm made,

18
00:01:16,751 --> 00:01:22,377
one day is more than enough
to weep and moan.

19
00:01:22,417 --> 00:01:25,731
I think, that's where
one's true character shows up.

20
00:01:25,732 --> 00:01:28,293
I'll tell you where I think
my stamina comes from.

21
00:01:29,125 --> 00:01:33,541
I'm the third daughter
of a General of the Italian Army,

22
00:01:33,542 --> 00:01:36,959
and I grew up with the motto,
"Do your duty and shut up!"

23
00:01:38,167 --> 00:01:40,626
On top of this,

24
00:01:41,209 --> 00:01:44,209
I was an agonistic swimmer
from 11 to 16 years old

25
00:01:44,210 --> 00:01:47,240
up to 20 km a day, every day,

26
00:01:47,250 --> 00:01:49,834
including on Sundays,
because there were competitions.

27
00:01:50,375 --> 00:01:52,605
Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose.

28
00:01:52,606 --> 00:01:56,667
But when you lose, you never,
even for a moment, consider quitting.

29
00:01:56,709 --> 00:01:59,168
Indeed, Mondays you're there,
in the swimming pool,

30
00:01:59,169 --> 00:02:01,417
stronger and more determined than ever.

31
00:02:01,918 --> 00:02:06,374
One day I said to myself,
"Well, Susanna, it's the second time

32
00:02:06,375 --> 00:02:11,291
someone steals your product
and you're left with no job.

33
00:02:11,292 --> 00:02:14,881
And at that moment, something clicked:
I have to make those products myself.

34
00:02:15,417 --> 00:02:19,417
Except, almost any promotional item
is made in China.

35
00:02:19,918 --> 00:02:23,001
I really have to make
something one-of-its-kind,

36
00:02:23,002 --> 00:02:24,750
unlike anything else.

37
00:02:24,751 --> 00:02:27,124
I want no competition.

38
00:02:27,125 --> 00:02:30,417
It has to be the opposite
of the same old gadget.

39
00:02:31,209 --> 00:02:34,399
- But what, exactly?
- And here's the case.

40
00:02:34,400 --> 00:02:35,200
I'm in a bar.

41
00:02:35,918 --> 00:02:39,124
A person I barely know
just gave me a notebook.

42
00:02:39,125 --> 00:02:42,124
Nothing special,
but I open it and I read,

43
00:02:42,125 --> 00:02:46,084
"No tree was cut
to produce this notebook."

44
00:02:46,667 --> 00:02:48,334
A light, a flash stroke me:

45
00:02:48,335 --> 00:02:52,626
a seemingly deep hidden memory
I didn't even remember to have.

46
00:02:53,918 --> 00:02:58,249
1982: I'm on a train compartment.

47
00:02:58,250 --> 00:03:02,292
By my side, two university professors
are talking, and I'm listening to them,

48
00:03:03,167 --> 00:03:06,001
"We're all sitting on a huge garbage pile.

49
00:03:06,751 --> 00:03:08,208
It's a huge problem

50
00:03:08,209 --> 00:03:11,001
for the future generations
and for the environment,

51
00:03:12,250 --> 00:03:15,333
and we absolutely have
to start thinking to do something.

52
00:03:16,042 --> 00:03:20,626
Certainly, waste disposal business
will be a thriving one, tomorrow."

53
00:03:22,709 --> 00:03:26,792
Gosh, at that moment, these people
were talking about the future.

54
00:03:26,793 --> 00:03:29,875
I was 23, but they were
also talking about me.

55
00:03:30,417 --> 00:03:33,584
Well, 16 years later,
the dots magically connected.

56
00:03:33,585 --> 00:03:36,376
The notebook, the train - I found my way!

57
00:03:37,209 --> 00:03:40,750
I will produce design,
"Made in Italy" items,

58
00:03:40,751 --> 00:03:45,377
but they'll only have to be produced
with recycled or reused materials.

59
00:03:45,417 --> 00:03:48,999
Attached to them,
there will be a story I can tell

60
00:03:49,000 --> 00:03:52,167
through the materials they're made of.

61
00:03:52,167 --> 00:03:54,959
I will brand them "Communicating Objects."

62
00:03:55,876 --> 00:03:58,043
But you know, we were in the late 90s.

63
00:03:58,044 --> 00:04:00,960
Aside from recycled paper
and recycled leather,

64
00:04:00,961 --> 00:04:03,209
there wasn't much
to be found on the market.

65
00:04:04,000 --> 00:04:05,250
So what will I do?

66
00:04:06,083 --> 00:04:08,208
Well, I try to ask my customer,

67
00:04:08,209 --> 00:04:10,751
"What do you usually throw away?
What's your waste?"

68
00:04:10,752 --> 00:04:14,126
And I'll try to make
unique objects for them.

69
00:04:15,167 --> 00:04:20,041
Well, over the years, we really made
a lot of communicating objects.

70
00:04:20,041 --> 00:04:22,292
I brought some of them here today.

71
00:04:22,876 --> 00:04:26,875
I visited a customer,
it's a tomato canning company.

72
00:04:26,876 --> 00:04:29,418
As usual, I ask, "What's your waste?"

73
00:04:29,459 --> 00:04:33,208
And they answer, "Dry tomato skins."

74
00:04:33,209 --> 00:04:37,251
Gosh, how will I give a second life
to a pile of tomato dry skins?

75
00:04:39,083 --> 00:04:41,667
Well, I know Lorenzo, a designer

76
00:04:41,667 --> 00:04:45,251
running an artisanal business
and making beautiful wax items.

77
00:04:45,834 --> 00:04:49,999
"Lorenzo, what about
putting my dry tomato skin

78
00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:51,834
inside your wax objects?"

79
00:04:52,709 --> 00:04:55,834
"Look Lorenzo, tomato dry skin
is so beautiful,

80
00:04:55,876 --> 00:04:58,502
your objects will look
even greater, you will see."

81
00:04:58,503 --> 00:05:02,708
And between bee wax and dry tomato skin,

82
00:05:02,709 --> 00:05:07,084
flower pots are born,
tabletops, and candles.

83
00:05:08,709 --> 00:05:14,958
Now, instead, I'm visiting
a marketing and communication manager

84
00:05:14,959 --> 00:05:18,168
who works for a dealer of a big car brand.

85
00:05:19,170 --> 00:05:20,750
She has to prepare some gadgets,

86
00:05:20,751 --> 00:05:24,126
and she likes my idea to use
recycled and reused materials.

87
00:05:24,127 --> 00:05:25,999
She has a shoestring budget.

88
00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:28,501
On the other hand,
she talks about 100,000 pieces.

89
00:05:29,209 --> 00:05:32,543
I ask the same question:
what are your waste product?

90
00:05:32,544 --> 00:05:36,168
She said, "Components
of decommissioned cars."

91
00:05:37,083 --> 00:05:40,082
Colored car lights immediately come
to my mind: red, orange.

92
00:05:40,083 --> 00:05:44,042
And so I think, let's make a pen.
She likes the idea.

93
00:05:45,042 --> 00:05:48,041
The car light recycled
material is purchased

94
00:05:48,042 --> 00:05:49,834
using the customer's indications.

95
00:05:50,400 --> 00:05:52,480
But then, how can you make a pen?

96
00:05:53,334 --> 00:05:58,416
A mold for a pen's body,
back then, cost 70,000 euros.

97
00:05:58,417 --> 00:06:05,291
Quick math: 100k pieces, €70k:
70 cents just for the mold,

98
00:06:05,292 --> 00:06:08,001
while 18 cents buy a finished Chinese pen.

99
00:06:08,002 --> 00:06:10,000
That's unfeasible, nobody would buy them.

100
00:06:10,584 --> 00:06:12,876
But we were in the early 2000s.

101
00:06:12,880 --> 00:06:15,791
Italian manufacturers are complaining,

102
00:06:15,792 --> 00:06:19,334
decimated as they are
by Chinese competition.

103
00:06:19,834 --> 00:06:24,293
I wonder: how many underused molds
can there be in our territory?

104
00:06:25,459 --> 00:06:28,418
The research brings me to Gigi.

105
00:06:28,918 --> 00:06:34,541
Gigi is a pen manufacturer,
and he has a mold.

106
00:06:34,542 --> 00:06:36,001
I go to Gigi and say,

107
00:06:36,042 --> 00:06:40,082
"Gigi, I give you the plastic,
you put the mold,

108
00:06:40,083 --> 00:06:41,625
and together we'll make a pen."

109
00:06:42,167 --> 00:06:45,625
And combining my plastics
with Gigi's mold,

110
00:06:45,626 --> 00:06:48,335
pens are made out of car lights.

111
00:06:49,501 --> 00:06:51,626
Together with Gigi,
I re-evolution his pen.

112
00:06:52,292 --> 00:06:54,522
Well guys, I love this business so much.

113
00:06:54,523 --> 00:06:55,960
So let's recapitulate --

114
00:06:57,042 --> 00:06:59,042
(Applause)

115
00:07:06,020 --> 00:07:08,374
Let's recapitulate:

116
00:07:08,375 --> 00:07:11,876
I can recuperate unused molds
among local businesses;

117
00:07:11,876 --> 00:07:14,166
I can slash down the cost of materials

118
00:07:14,167 --> 00:07:16,709
by taking advantage
of recycled and reused materials;

119
00:07:17,626 --> 00:07:19,210
I help local craftsmanship;

120
00:07:19,250 --> 00:07:21,417
and I make unique objects
for my customers.

121
00:07:21,417 --> 00:07:23,417
Everyone is winning!

122
00:07:24,375 --> 00:07:30,917
Of course, as you all can imagine,
this hasn't been an easy path to take.

123
00:07:30,918 --> 00:07:34,666
But what pushed me to endure

124
00:07:34,667 --> 00:07:38,084
was the awareness
I was doing a healthy business.

125
00:07:38,459 --> 00:07:42,791
Plus, I wasn't polluting
the land I lived on.

126
00:07:42,792 --> 00:07:46,668
Indeed, I was somewhat
helping to remediate it.

127
00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:50,360
So despite the hardships I went through,

128
00:07:50,375 --> 00:07:52,584
I love this business
more and more every day.

129
00:07:53,584 --> 00:07:56,626
Without even noticing it,
I created a circular economy.

130
00:07:58,083 --> 00:07:59,500
Let me explain what it is -

131
00:07:59,626 --> 00:08:03,210
not because I'm an economist
but because they also explained it to me.

132
00:08:03,626 --> 00:08:08,210
A circular economy is
a self-regenerating one.

133
00:08:08,250 --> 00:08:13,625
It's a system where all production lines
are conceived to make sure

134
00:08:13,626 --> 00:08:17,085
that someone's waste
is someone else's resource.

135
00:08:18,167 --> 00:08:19,834
Well, I did it for 20 years:

136
00:08:19,835 --> 00:08:23,335
unconsciously, at the beginning;
now, with more and more awareness.

137
00:08:24,250 --> 00:08:29,584
For I have up cycled tomato's dry skins,

138
00:08:29,686 --> 00:08:34,082
namely I reused a waste material

139
00:08:34,082 --> 00:08:38,417
and through a creative process
I managed to create another material.

140
00:08:39,250 --> 00:08:41,500
What did I do with pens, instead?

141
00:08:41,501 --> 00:08:42,793
I merely re-cycled them,

142
00:08:42,876 --> 00:08:47,166
following the supply chain
of car lights' reuse and recycle

143
00:08:47,167 --> 00:08:52,417
which, through a new productive process,
I used to make my pens.

144
00:08:53,542 --> 00:08:56,043
But what am I actually doing
at the end of the day?

145
00:08:56,417 --> 00:08:59,667
With my objects, I'm
extending a material's life;

146
00:09:00,334 --> 00:09:03,417
but eventually, this doesn't save them
from the landfill,

147
00:09:03,418 --> 00:09:07,625
or they'll end up
in the recycling supply chain.

148
00:09:07,626 --> 00:09:10,377
After 20 years,
I want to do something more.

149
00:09:11,209 --> 00:09:14,626
But what, exactly?
And here's still the case.

150
00:09:15,501 --> 00:09:19,002
In 2012, I got a phone call in the office.

151
00:09:19,834 --> 00:09:23,418
Cristina saw my objects at an exhibition.

152
00:09:23,459 --> 00:09:27,210
She loved the idea and wanted me
to design her promotional items.

153
00:09:28,709 --> 00:09:30,668
Cristina is the handy woman of Vittorio.

154
00:09:30,669 --> 00:09:34,418
Vittorio has a company
that manufactures graphite electrodes.

155
00:09:35,042 --> 00:09:38,084
Of course, objects have
to be made with their own waste.

156
00:09:39,120 --> 00:09:41,440
And their waste is graphite powder.

157
00:09:42,501 --> 00:09:45,252
Wait, waste? Graphite powder?
It's so beautiful to me.

158
00:09:45,253 --> 00:09:48,001
I assure you graphite powder
looks gorgeous.

159
00:09:48,002 --> 00:09:50,334
I can only see it as a prime material.

160
00:09:51,000 --> 00:09:54,751
And hey, we all know that pencils
are made of graphite.

161
00:09:54,751 --> 00:09:57,049
And pencils are quintessential
promotional items.

162
00:09:58,584 --> 00:10:03,666
Well, Vittorio used
to dispose of 12 tons a year

163
00:10:03,667 --> 00:10:06,251
of "inevitable" waste graphite powder.

164
00:10:07,417 --> 00:10:10,335
At a considerable cost
for his company, by the way.

165
00:10:10,336 --> 00:10:13,001
Do you know where does
graphite powder usually end up?

166
00:10:14,417 --> 00:10:17,500
In a landfill, directly underground.

167
00:10:17,501 --> 00:10:20,293
It used to be a hopeless waste product.

168
00:10:22,083 --> 00:10:25,042
Well, we absolutely have
to come up with something.

169
00:10:25,043 --> 00:10:26,918
I start looking for a "Pencil Gigi."

170
00:10:26,918 --> 00:10:28,875
And little did I know

171
00:10:28,876 --> 00:10:32,999
no one manufactures
pencils in Italy any more.

172
00:10:33,000 --> 00:10:34,959
I immediately made up my mind

173
00:10:35,709 --> 00:10:39,041
to become Italy's
only pencil manufacturer.

174
00:10:39,042 --> 00:10:41,199
And of course, my pencil--

175
00:10:41,200 --> 00:10:45,920
(Applause)

176
00:10:49,834 --> 00:10:52,460
And of course,
how is my pencil going to be?

177
00:10:52,501 --> 00:10:55,648
Innovative, distinguishable
from any other pencil;

178
00:10:55,649 --> 00:10:57,709
-it's made in Italy, for goodness sake!

179
00:10:57,710 --> 00:10:59,001
It has to be perfect.

180
00:10:59,626 --> 00:11:03,127
As you might have guessed by now,
I'm a networker by nature.

181
00:11:04,000 --> 00:11:08,209
I knew Andrea some years ago,
we did some works together.

182
00:11:08,209 --> 00:11:12,041
Andrea is an expert
in productive processes,

183
00:11:12,042 --> 00:11:14,918
and he knows very well
the molding materials.

184
00:11:15,459 --> 00:11:18,626
Then Marta, an architect
and a fantastic designer.

185
00:11:19,167 --> 00:11:22,376
And working with them,
after almost a year of research,

186
00:11:22,377 --> 00:11:25,251
"Perpetua la matita" was born.

187
00:11:26,459 --> 00:11:29,043
(Applause)

188
00:11:36,959 --> 00:11:40,251
Perpetua is a real re-evolution

189
00:11:40,751 --> 00:11:45,043
because for the first time, we did
something that didn't exist before:

190
00:11:45,044 --> 00:11:48,084
we might call it self-cycling!

191
00:11:48,834 --> 00:11:52,668
Self-cycling consists
in self-consuming the waste product.

192
00:11:54,250 --> 00:11:59,119
So, Perpetua users recycle
and consume, by writing,

193
00:11:59,120 --> 00:12:01,040
15 grams of graphite.

194
00:12:02,292 --> 00:12:04,542
Do you know
why are pencils made of wood?

195
00:12:06,292 --> 00:12:11,833
They usually have two glued wooden shells
in order to protect the graphite mine,

196
00:12:11,834 --> 00:12:14,084
which stains your hands,
and it's very fragile.

197
00:12:14,667 --> 00:12:17,376
Well, there's no wood in Perpetua's body:

198
00:12:17,417 --> 00:12:22,500
it's 80% made of Vittorio's graphite,
and it doesn't stain your hands.

199
00:12:23,542 --> 00:12:25,876
And what about the pencils
with an eraser behind?

200
00:12:25,918 --> 00:12:27,460
They have a tiny metal collar,

201
00:12:28,042 --> 00:12:31,249
whose job is to tie
the eraser to the body.

202
00:12:31,250 --> 00:12:34,500
Well, Marta didn't like that collar.

203
00:12:34,501 --> 00:12:39,460
A tragedy: my pencil will not have
that ugly collar, period. OK.

204
00:12:39,542 --> 00:12:42,834
And I hated the glue, by the way,
so we were on the same wavelength.

205
00:12:42,834 --> 00:12:44,999
Poor Andrea's tests after tests.

206
00:12:45,000 --> 00:12:50,792
Eventually, we managed to fuse
the eraser directly to the graphite body.

207
00:12:51,709 --> 00:12:54,293
Graphite and eraser
glued in a single body.

208
00:12:54,334 --> 00:12:57,773
And by the way, did you ever try
to write with a pencil?

209
00:12:57,774 --> 00:13:00,252
The mine gets broken
and no sharpener is around?

210
00:13:01,959 --> 00:13:05,416
Perpetua solves this problem for you

211
00:13:05,417 --> 00:13:07,875
because it writes
even without a sharp mine.

212
00:13:07,876 --> 00:13:09,886
You can sharp it later on, if you feel to.

213
00:13:11,292 --> 00:13:13,625
And then, when I get angry

214
00:13:13,626 --> 00:13:17,791
- my coworkers know that,
they're in the last rows -

215
00:13:17,792 --> 00:13:20,042
I can take my Perpetua,

216
00:13:21,167 --> 00:13:23,709
throw it on the ground
and pick it back up.

217
00:13:24,000 --> 00:13:28,501
Perpetua was made in such a way
it doesn't break when it falls down.

218
00:13:28,876 --> 00:13:30,830
Thank you!

219
00:13:30,834 --> 00:13:33,043
(Applause)