Queens, NYC

Zero Waste Store

Earth & Me

Commercial Photoshoot | Product Photoshoot

Growing up, my dad would regularly take my sister, brother, and I to the local recycling center. We’d pile out of the car and each grab a bag of our recycled materials — lots of paper, plastic and glass bottles…

We worked alongside the workers, sorting the materials into the giant bins. While we spent maybe a total of five mintues there each time, the repeated visits made an impression on me. There was just SO much... excess stuff. Where did it all go? Why was it all produced in the first place? If this entire facility was just recycling, what did our trash look like?

When I learned that Queens opened its own zero-waste store, I was ecstatic. Here are some commercial and product photos for Earth & Me. They’re based in Astoria and the shop owner, Kayli, partners with makers who “are thoughtful and personally invested in sustainability” to ensure that the products “empower people, not faceless corporations.”