Miniwiz Recycled Products Cash Replacement Pop Up
Miniwiz created a pop-up that used recycled products as a replacement for cash.
Shoppers were only allowed to buy recycled products from Miniwiz's Exchange pop-up store in Sardinia if they brought plastic to be repurposed because the store did not accept money.
Stationed in Porto Cervo, Sardinia, the pop-up sold goods made in-house using donated materials, such as plastic bottles, coffee cups and shopping bags.
Shoppers received credit for new items, including colourful tiles and lampshades, by giving post-consumer waste to be ground down and repurposed. This type of brand experience has a two-fold positive effect on the consumer, as it is highlighting Miniwiz’s commitments to the environment while creating such a unique, memorable feature.
The pop-up design was Miniwiz Trashlab's newest iteration of circular-economy engineering and ingenuity. The portable lab, which aims to show the potential for reusing waste, has previously appeared at London Design Festival and Milan Design Week.
The pop-up activation was fitted with a Miniwiz Trashpresso machine and a smart waste bin named Robin.
Robin monitored and separated waste into categories and converted it to points that the user can save using the Robin app. These points were then used to buy goods at the pop-up.
Trashpresso mobile recycling machines cleaned and dried the rubbish before shredding the different recyclables into tiny flakes.
They were combined and heated in a heat induction press, the heat at which depended on the specific temperature of the components. The heated plastic was moulded and pressure was applied to shape it.
The whole production process took fewer than five minutes, from waste to brand new product.
The pop-up activation showcased an exhibition of the differing kinds of waste that Miniwiz is transforming, displayed on a series of ply shelving alongside the products for exchange.
A breakout area in the middle of the shop was decorated with furniture made from items that would otherwise have been thrown away.
"Every product you touch, every textile you feel is up-cycled from the single use packaging waste you previously consumed," said Miniwiz.
"Every inch of this concept store is filled with stories of human ingenuity of using technology to stop the chemical and plastic pollution in our environment."
Tours were conducted by personnel wearing coats made from waste materials, providing continuity of the brand experience.
Miniwiz creator Arthur Huang addressed the issue of bioplastics during Milan Design Week. He stated last year that bioplastics may be as detrimental to the environment as fossil fuels, if not more so.
Bioplastic recycling is a better option than allowing it to decompose, but single-use plastics are the real problem.
