PopCycle:
From the course: Sustainability Studio, taught by Nathan Shedroff and Susan Gladwin
Vinitha Watson
Suzanne Randolph
Mattia Nuzzo
Heike Rapp-Wurm
Gwen Armbruster
Many college students move out of out the dorms and live in an apartment for a limited timeframe before they graduate and move on. During this period they require furnishings that are affordable, durable, functional and comfortable. Yet, oftentimes the furniture they end up with fails to meet all of these requirements and is left curbside as trash after graduation. Our solution to this problem, PopCycle, meets the college student's needs while simultaneously reducing the amount of waste generated and furthering existing social goals.
- PopCycle repurposes furniture donated to Goodwill that would otherwise be sent to the dump utilizing sustainable practices and materials.
- PopCycle expands the current Goodwill system to train individuals in professional upholstery techniques and create a new profit-generating venture.
- PopCycle establishes short-term pop-up shops as venues to sell refinished pieces to college students.
The Process
PopCycle provides a fun, community-based, and affordable purchasing experience. The integrated furniture repurposing process between PopCycle and Goodwill entails the following five steps:
PopCycle Step 1: Donation
- Items that would normally be sent to the dump are directed to the Goodwill's Pier 50 facility.
PopCycle Step 2: Sorting
- Goodwill Sorting staff evaluates pieces and sets those items deemed acceptable for repair aside.
- Additional items are designated to be stripped for fabrics and other salvageable materials.
PopCycle Step 3: PopCycle
Workshop
A key component of PopCycle is the PopCycle Workshop which combines career training with furniture repurposing. Elements include:
- A six month hands-on training program located at Pier 50. Three hour classes are held five nights a week.
- During each training period, 20 participants learn to reupholster and refinish pieces using professional techniques and 100% sustainable materials.
- A minimum of 30 pieces are produced for sale at the PopCycle Pop-Up Shop. The pieces use donated fabrics and reclaimed materials in creative ways to appeal to college students.
- Participants become certified upholsterers ready for job placement with private employers or to be hired by PopCycle Medic at the end of each training period.
PopCycle Medic
The second primary component of PopCycle is the profit-making Medic service with the following elements:
PopCycle Step 4: Pop-Up Shop
The pop-up shop is a vibrant, carnival-like experience that is set up in the center of a campus quad. As SF State already has a community service relationship with Goodwill SF, they have been chosen as the first school with which to test the pilot program.
- The pop-up shop will appear during move-in week at the beginning of the Fall semester, for three days (Friday, Saturday and Sunday). During this time a tent on the campus quad will erected. Inventory would contain at least 30 items that were reupholstered and refinished in the PopCycle workshop.
- Site-specific signage using re-cycled materials would be designed and constructed by the PopCycle Medic trainees as the final project of their training period.
- Furniture will be affordably priced to compete with IKEA (e.g. sofas would range from $150 - $250).
- Program participants work with college students to manage the sale.
- Program participants will also gain business skills as they work with college students to manage the sale.
PopCycle Step 5: Repeat - "ReCycle with PopCycle"
Sustainability (Adaptive Reuse) + Social Goals (Career Training) + Target Segment Needs (Comfortable Furniture) = Fabulous Solution
- A PopCycle label will be attached to each piece of furniture, which contains the signa tures of all the participants who worked on it.
- The label will include a statement: "Please don't throw me away. Reuse. When you move on into the big world, bring me back to PopCycle, or sell me to your friends. Don't let me become landfill." 1-800-pop-cycle