This summer, in their ample parking lots across several European cities, IKEA will be hosting weekend flea markets for people to come and sell their used household goods and other items they don’t need anymore. Donations from the day will be used to support vulnerable single-parent families. The effort is designed to underscore the brand’s sustainability focus that includes programs encouraging people to resell their used IKEA products and generally to throw away less items in favor of upcycling or donating them.
As we head into the summer months for many countries, it strikes me that the idea of using excess space in this way took off during the pandemic when parking lots offered the ideal socially distanced location to host activities, but has seemed to fade away since. What if we all thought about reclaiming those open spaces for more activities and initiatives like this?