Ahmedabad Community Gives ‘Thrifting’ a New Spin; Reaches Those in Need Across Villages

A community of youngsters in Ahmedabad led by Renu Pokharna collects unused items from houses, and sorts and cleans them to sell in remote villages for a nominal rate.

This community is India Recycles which began its operations in 2021 to make goods available to the poor. The items can be anything, from clothes to footwear and cutleries to home appliances. 

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“The idea is to give a new spin to thrift stores which is still an elite concept in India,” says Renu. “We invite donors to the locations where sales happen which encourages them to give more. It also makes us realise how many unwanted purchases we make every day while a section of people can’t even afford necessities.”

The members of the community place drop boxes at several locations in Ahmedabad city. The collected items are sorted, cleaned and segregated before selling for a price between Rs 10-50.

Almost 70 per cent of the items are sold within the first hour of taking them to different remote locations each weekend. The customers feel dignified too as they pay a price for the goods.

The community has tied up with cafes, offices, universities and housing societies to make collection centres. They try to make use of all the items received by collaborating with local labourers and designers to convert them into bags, accessories, mattresses and more.

India Recycles hopes to make thrifting available all over India. As the first step, they plan to reach more areas of Gujarat by the end of this year.

Watch to know more about this novel initiative:

Edited by Yoshita Rao

Fature image credits: Facebook/India Recycles