In 2012 Monika Weila was running an online shoe store and came across a homeless man whilst she was in Chicago. The man was holding up a sign which said he needed a new pair of shoes. Being in the shoe business Ms Wiela was in a position to do something to help and returned a few hours later with a pair of shoes for the man. Unfortunately, he had already left the scene and her attempt at providing charity led her to think about what was possible with all the empty boxes stacked at her warehouse as well as providing assistance to people like the man she had tried to help.
Creating a new social enterprise
That was the genesis of a new social enterprise. Ms Weila did a lot of research and found out that approximately 11 million tons of clothing, footwear, towels, bedding, drapery and other forms of textiles end up being dumped in US landfills each year. Apart from that fact it had become obvious that the general public now prefer to do most of their shopping online, these retailers make extensive use of corrugated boxes for their packaging. Armed with all this information, Ms Wiela developed an idea that would allow online retailers to use boxes from Give Back Box and other boxes and items a second opportunity at being used before being recycled. The impact would be nothing short of remarkable.
National footprint
Ms Weila set out about looking for a non-profit partner with a national footprint that had the ability to accept donations on a massive scale. There were a number of criteria. The organisation would not only need to accept second hand clothing but also any other items people wished to donate. It also needed to develop the capacity to recycle the boxes it received in order to reduce the amount of rubbish being dumped into landfills.
Developing the system
Give Back Box’s first major retail partner was Newegg.com and the company agreed to place fliers in all the boxes they were shipping to their customers. The fliers contained information which recommended that their customers re-use the boxes that their purchases were packaged in and fill them up with clothes, accessories and other household items no longer necessary and then ship them to local charities using a pre-paid shipping label. The local charities built a system that would allow them to track those packages, so once they were received, the boxes were scanned and tax receipts were generated for donors. Since then Give Back Box has developed partnerships with a number of major retailers in the United States.
Anyone can participate
The platform developed by Give Back Box is open to any retailer who wishes to join as a partner. Donors are also most welcome as well and can choose which charity to give their money too. These charities stock their shelves with the donations they receive from ordinary people and the money that they are given is used to fund their activities. The charities also make sure they recycle every box they receive. Give Back Box is a truly innovative charitable concept that not only limits the amount of waste retailers generate by recycling their package for secondary use, it also allows people to clear their wardrobes, create new jobs and enables companies and consumers more opportunities to be more sustainable.
