ReTuna

ReTuna is the world’s first secondhand shopping mall, featuring only reclaimed and reused goods.

ReTuna is located in a two-story complex in Eskilstuna, Sweden, located about 70 miles west of Stockholm. It has been around since 2015, and was designed to tackle Sweden’s problem of rising consumption. The 11 stores in the mall offer a wide selection of upcycled, reused and recycled goods from furniture, bicycles, household utensils, clothes, decorations, building materials, old doors and windows, computers, and electronics, as well as a conference facility and organic cafe. In March, a florist’s shop opened selling “ecologically grown flowers and plants” in, of course, re-used flower pots.

Shoppers are encouraged to drop off used items when they arrive, which will later be transformed by the designers, craftspeople, and storeowners working inside. Sales at ReTuna have quadrupled in its first three years.

More than 50 people work at the complex, and it has played a role in generating employment for immigrants in the area. Many of the stores take part in a Swedish national program that subsidizes salaries of new residents for up to two years. ReTuna also offers adult education courses that focus on design-based recycling.

Sweden has been a longtime leader when it comes to sustainability. More than 99 percent  of the country’s ordinary household waste is recycled, and separating trash for recycling has been a common practice for Swedes since the 1980s. The country has also passed legislation to reach its goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045.

Sources: www.huffingtonpost.comand www.curbed.com