According to the World Health Organization, about 35 billion shoes are thrown away every year, while 1.5 billion people suffer the pain of foot infections and this is due to their unprotected bare feet. We all throw away so many shoes every year. Often the bottom of our shoes are strong but the top cover gets torn or rubbed off. We either give them away or throw them away. Sometimes they work after repairing for a few days but soon after buying new shoes they throw away the old ones. But by giving a new look to these shoes, changing its design and making them wearable again for any needy, then you will definitely welcome the idea and would like to give your support too.
Runners Shriyans Bhandari And Ramesh Dhami The venture of “Greensol” is one such social venture. After repairing old shoes and making them reusable slippers, they distribute them among the villagers and school children who are forced to live barefoot. Started with this noble thought, many people get employment in this venture, as well as it is also beneficial from the point of view of the environment. In the manufacture of a shoe, 65 different parts are made in 360 steps, which releases 30 kg of carbon dioxide, which can burn a 100 watt bulb for a week. Along with saving this carbon emission, it also saves from the waste spread on the land from such shoes.
21-year-old Shriyans and 23-year-old Ramesh have little in common, but their being marathon runners and having a common idea for the founding of “Greensol” was the beginning of a new beginning. On the one hand Shriyans hails from an elite family with a business background from Udaipur, Rajasthan and holds BBA from Jai Hind College, Mumbai. Studied and then MBA from America. On the other hand Ramesh Kumaon hails from a small village in Garhwal, Uttarakhand. Left home at the age of 10 due to domestic troubles and lived in many parts of North India and did many odd jobs for his livelihood. Ramesh moved to Mumbai after 2 years with the dream of working in films. Here they had to sleep on the sidewalk and at times go hungry. Ramesh also got addicted to drugs and started doing small crimes. Then he came in contact with “Saathi” NGO where he learned to read and write and from there he got inspired to go into sports and thus Shriyans Bhandari and Ramesh Dhami met at Priyadarshini Park. Here he used to train under Marathon champion Savio D’Souza.
Ramesh started working as an assistant to Savio D’Souza, where he used to get Rs 4,500 a month. By saving money from this small income, Ramesh somehow bought expensive sports shoes. But after a few months, the upper part of the shoe got damaged. He didn’t move much after repairs but his sole was still strong. Ramesh refurbished the shoe a little and changed it into chappal. In this way Ramesh came up with the idea of a new use of old shoes in the form of slippers and sandals.
Being athletes, Shreyans and Ramesh used to run kilometers every year. In such a situation, 4 to 5 expensive shoes of both used to get spoiled every year. When Ramesh told his idea to Shreyans, he also liked it very much. And then the two founded “Greensol”. In the year 2014, Shreyans and Ramesh presented their business model in a business competition “National Entrepreneur Network” (NEN) at Jai Hind College. His project was highly appreciated. Encouraged by this, both of them did research about the manufacture of slippers and learned its art and made their model better. He presented his model in many competitions.
His idea won lakhs of rupees as a reward. In this money, Shriyans launched “Greensol” as a private limited company for 10 lakh rupees by mixing some money from his house and some money from donation etc. In 2014, a traditional colony of Mumbai’s traditional shoemaker “Thakkar Bappa Colony” started making sandals from old shoes with five workers in a rented room of 500 square feet. Meanwhile, Shriyans went to America to get a master’s degree. During this, Ramesh learned all its nuances by roaming around in big and established footwear manufacturing companies. Shriyans handles the marketing of “Greensol” while Ramesh looks after the manufacturing, design and research etc. Today they have a great team.
“Greensol” has so far distributed 52,000 chappals and sandals to the needy people in Maharashtra and Gujarat and aims to donate one lakh pairs by the end of 2017. People are also showing enthusiasm in this work. Today many other big corporates like Axis Bank, Indiabulls, Tata Power and DTDC are associated with their campaign. Apart from this, there are many organizations that help in collecting shoes for them. They give money for the repair of shoes and then donate them to the needy.
It takes a worker about 60 minutes to make a new slipper from an old shoe, but with the use of technology and system in “Greensole”, it is possible to produce 800 pairs per day. If there is some strength in the shoes, then it is given to the Sports Authority of India (SAI) and old shoes are taken from there. After surveying the village where slippers are to be given, they first make slippers and sandals from the shoes after understanding their need and size. There is also retailing of greensols where slippers can be purchased for self or for charity. Greensol is also available online. All vintage footwear is used here except for kids and high heeled sandals. He also holds two industrial idea and design patents (D262161 and D262162). Appreciation from stalwarts like Ratan Tata and Barack Obama has instilled confidence in both of them and that they are on the right track. Soon they are planning to set up their units in Delhi and Bangalore. Presently the turnover of “Greensol” is 1 Crore.
Shriyans BusinessKhabar Told in a special conversation that soon they will bring the slippers of celebrities to Longo through online auction.
Giving a message for success to youngsters like himself, Shriyans says, “Whenever you have an idea, keep moving forward at every next step. Talk to successful people around you and in that area and implement the idea.”
Shreyans and Ramesh have removed a painful difficulty of all of them by fulfilling a small but very urgent need of the compatriots left behind from the mainstream of society. There can be many small efforts by which the problems of the deprived section of the society can be resolved and their standard of living can be improved by removing them. The idea of these two friends and its implementation inspires every educated youth to come forward to help the backward people around them.
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