Puma And Goonj Want Your Old Shoes Which They Will Upcycle For Rural Initiatives

Sports apparel and footwear company Puma has announced that it is partnering with non-profit Goonj in an effort to promote what it calls a circular economy. Puma says that if you have any old apparel or footwear that you don’t wish to wear anymore or have outgrown, they would like you to donate those. Those will then be repaired as necessary and repackaged for distribution among the rural communities in India. This campaign runs through to September 10.

Puma and Goonj say that at the end of the campaign, all the collected items will be taken to Goonj’s Processing Centers across India. These items will then go through a rigorous process of sorting, segregation, repairs as necessary and repacking for distribution. For this, Puma has set up collection boxes at as many as 360 Puma stores in India where users can drop their old apparel and footwear. Puma also says that users can opt to have these collected from their home or office by logging in a request on the Puma India website. For every lot of apparel or footwear that you submit, the company will offer gift vouchers.

“We are happy to partner with Goonj towards their efforts to uplift rural communities. This initiative gives us a great platform to collaborate with our consumers to crowdsource essentials like apparel and footwear. We will continue to actively be a part of the circular economy and encourage more people to make a conscious choice towards sustainable living,” says Abhishek Ganguly, Managing Director, PUMA India. “This partnership with Puma, presents a great example of how different entities can collaborate to bring awareness on the development issues and how by creating such platforms, people from all across get a chance to participate. We hope the customers take this as an opportunity not for clearing old material but by giving only what can be used as more than the giving, mindful giving matters,” says Anshu Gupta, Founder Director, Goonj.

These customized kits will be prepared for local needs of rural India in different parts of the country. Puma and Goonj say this will be customized as Family Kits, School Kits, Rahat Disaster Relief Kit, Aaganwadi Kit, Labour Kit and Menstural Dignity kits. These kits will also be used as a reward for mobilizing people who work on localized own issues, including building local infrastructure.