Published by Vanessa Brunner under Reuse/Recycle

I recently read an article in the New York Times about the pop up shop trend that retail stores nationwide have been grasping on to.  If you haven’t heard of the concept, a lot of stores are setting up temporary locations in major cities across the United States. The store goes up and comes down in a certain period of time–mainly to advertise/highlight a newproduct/trend/line.

In terms of marketing, it’s pretty smart. And effective.

In terms of the environment, not so much.

"Recycling Regiment 1" by Peter Kaminski on Flickr Creative Commons

As the NYT article highlights, this type of practice results in a lot of unnecessary waste. For most of these pop-up shops, the materials aren’t reused or reusable–and are simply tossed to the curb when the shop is torn down.

I love what the Here/Nau/NYC pop up is doing–creating their pop-up shop entirely out of recycled materials. Jean-Pierre Veillet is a genius. In a way it’s a little sad. This shouldn’t be something unique, it should be what EVERYONE is doing.

"Bar Sixty Two" by Mugley on Flickr Creative Commons

What struck me about this article, besides the  innovation on the part of Veillet, was the idea of “new” and “old” garbage. The quote, “…so when the store closes, at least the garbage won’t be new” really stood out.

Does it make a difference if the garbage is old or new? How much of an impact are you having, if it still ends up in the waste stream? Certainly it is more beneficial to our planet to reuse what we have rather than adding to the waste, but in some sense, I can get the frustration voiced by many people: if it’s going to end up in the trash anyways, what’s the point?

"Garbage Blues" by Isado on Flickr Creative Commons

It’s really important to keep the big picture in mind. I think a lot of individuals underestimate the power of “baby steps.” It really doesn’t feel like it sometimes, but every little bit helps. Honestly. When a lot of people do little things, these little bits increase exponentially, making a huge impact.

What do you think?