The "green" trend of environmental responsibility and sustainability has taken hold over the past decade, and has transformed from a way to woo eco-minded shoppers into a critical design tool that is easy to use and may save stores money. Being green is all about reducing, re-using and recycling – all things you can incorporate into your store displays!
Reduce
One of the most important ways to incorporate "reduction" into your store displays and overall function is to reduce the amount of waste your shop creates – with its visual design and its overall operation. One place to reduce is at the cash wrap with retail packaging. Depending on your merchandise, you can ask a customer if he or she would like a bag instead of automatically handing them out, saving yourself wrapping supplies. Investing in eco-friendly boxes for items like jewelry could cut the need for bags and tissue, too.
You can also reduce the amount of retail supplies you have to create and hand out by advertising sales and special deals on Facebook and Twitter.
Re-use
When you start thinking outside the box, you may find even the most straightforward items can serve more than one purpose. That belt rack you got back before your company discontinued belts can be reused as a scarf rack, or an old mannequin that is too worn to put on display could be used to store hats and necklaces in the stockroom.
Recycle
Recycling is where the green movement allows for some truly unique looks in visual merchandising, which is how it has led to so many creative, eye-catching displays. Whether you recycle old wooden fruit boxes into rustic risers on a display table or recycle old broken clothes hangers into a fabulous piece of art for your window display, the possibilities are endless when it comes to recycling old items into something new.
