This story was originally published by Reasons to be Cheerful
Welcome back to our weekly behind-the-scenes glimpse at what’s getting our team talking. Let us know what you think at [email protected].
Vintage values
Shopping malls fuel our throwaway culture by making it easy for us to replace our old stuff with new stuff. Not at ReTuna in Eskilstuna, Sweden, the world’s first mall to sell secondhand and repurposed items only. This story from The Conversation, shared by Executive Editor Will Doig, delights in the mall’s success as a stylish yet socially meaningful space, and charts the incredible rise in demand for pre-loved products.
Will says:
We’ve written about how, in countries like Germany, the market for secondhand goods has become big business. As a lover of gently-used clothes, appliances and furniture, I was tickled to see more examples of the trend.
Trash diving
Speaking of trash, the Reasons to be Cheerful team took great pleasure this week in reading The Washington Post‘s feature on the Old Ladies Against Underwater Garbage, a squad of women who swim in the freshwater ponds of Cape Cod collecting litter. Vignesh Ramachandran, our Audience Engagement Manager, shared the story.
Vignesh says:
OLAUG’s message that nothing is too overwhelming if you do it together is a perfect celebration of the power of community. It reminded me of Geetanjali Krishna’s recent story of the ‘plastic cup’ competitions cleaning up rivers in Hungary.
What else we’re reading
Houston’s Alief Neighborhood Center Is a Resilience Hub for a Working-Class Melting Pot — shared by Founder David Byrne from Bloomberg
Democracy Playbook — a cross-border journalism collaboration shared by Contributing Editor Michaela Haas from Unbias the News
Acknowledging the Hands That Feed Us— shared by Interim Editorial Director Tess Riley from High Country News
In other news…
We’ve been exploring the power of neighbors uniting to prepare for natural disasters like hurricanes. If you have an inspiring story to tell of how your community preps for and supports neighbors in times of need, we’d love to hear more at [email protected]
The post What We’re Reading: The Success Of Sweden’s ‘Secondhand-Only’ Shopping Mall appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.
