3 actions for a more ecological pop-up store

Sustainability is a mega-trend forcing companies to change their way of producing, to lower the impact they might have on the environment. It is also forcing companies to take further measures which are essential for their customers. Today, consumers are extremely informed and are prepared to judge hard if they believe that a company has not jumped yet on the sustainability wave. We give you 3 sustainable actions for a more ecological pop-up store.

According to the research company JWT Intelligence, 92% of consumers want to live more sustainably. And the most exciting fact is that they are willing to pay more if an environmental impact strategy justifies the cost. By the way, 54% of consumers thought they could do more, imagine how you would make them feel if you could help them do more through your company!

 

//1. Forget about the plastic!

Did you know that in the Pacific Ocean, there is an island named GPGP Great Pacific Garbage Patch, just made of plastic: 80,000 tons of garbage float across the ocean! If you think that the average consumer uses a plastic bag for about 12 minutes, the only action is to forget about them! Offer paper bags, which can be customized, educate your employees to ask customers if they have a container brought from home before offering one of your pop-ups. You could also provide a cotton bag for the event, created from recycled fabric. Something that the customer can keep as a souvenir of the experience.

If your pop-up sells food, pay close attention when you serve it. The plastic used for food at events has the shortest life because the consumer buys what they want to eat, and after a few minutes, everything goes in the trash. Today, there are many alternatives to plastic: from mycelium to vegetable plastic made from algae, corn, or the skin of the fruit. There are many alternatives, which you can use and be respectful of the environment!

 

2 // Rent furniture or equipment

Does your pop-up need something just one time or regularly? In some cases, it is worth renting furniture and stuff instead of buying them. When your pop-up concept is clear, think about what you need and about the future. Maybe you won’t need some things again, and renting will reduce the risk of very high investment.

If you decide to buy certain items, invest in the highest quality you can afford. The latter will help ensure that what you buy works well, has a long life, and is profitable if you sell them again. When you need to get rid of something and can’t sell it, look to donate or recycle instead of sending it to the landfill. It will help keep its environmental impact to a minimum.

 

3 //Try to be energy efficient

Reducing the energy we spend is the first step to be sustainable.

Even so when you are going to launch your pop-up, think about these points:

• Take advantage of natural light: if your pop-up store, located at street level, take advantage of natural light both in the shop window and inside the store to improve distribution.

• LED lights: for places where natural light cannot reach, it is best to install lighting with LED bulbs. These allow an essential saving of energy since they need 80% less than the traditional ones to work.

• Air conditioning: one way to save energy is to keep the temperature of the heating and air conditioning stable, between 24º and 26º, since each degree of more supposes between 7% and 10% more energy.

• Turn off all appliances: When you are not in business and do not need the devices, we recommend that you turn them off entirely since they can account for 10% of consumption.

Sustainability is a critical action, and you must take into consideration if you want your company to stay on the wave of what is essential for consumers nowadays. We can help you also when it comes to launching a pop-up event that takes into consideration these 3 actions for a more ecological pop-up store, but also other ideas that you think are important for your customers, for inspiration read here.