MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Vastrafinder - Recycling Clothes Made Easier.

One-line solution summary.

An application to facilitate the recycling and reusing of old clothes after mending them by connecting donors with recyclers and buyers.

Elevator pitch

What is your solution?

Our app helps in connectiong donors with recyclers and buyers of old clothes. It provides a point based system to reward the donors. The points can be used to redeem rewards available on the website.

The pick up and cleaning of the clothes will be done by us and drivers will be assigned to pick up and drop the clothes. The app provides for the donor to upload pictures of the clothes and add details so that our team can verify them.

It allows user to login as either a seller, recycler or administrator. The seller can donate and view his rewards according to the points collected on making donations. The recyclers or the buyers can choose from the multiple clothing articles avalilable on the website. These items can be recycled and sold at minimal prices or for free to the NGOs and needy or they can directly be reused by a buyer after making minor repairs. The role of an administrator is to verify the authenticity and quality of the donations made and generate points for the donor.

We have used Zoho Creator which is a low code platform for our application prototype.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

Along with food and shelter, clothing is also a major issue in India. In winters, many parts of India can be very harsh, especially for villagers and the urban poor who don’t have access to woolen clothing or cover. Proper clothing is as much a necessity as food to survive in these seasons for the underprivileged.

Also, the global fashion industry produces approximately 92 million tonnes of waste per year. This clothing wastes ends up in landfills where they take decades to degrade and in the process they emit greenhouse gases.

Therefore, measures must be taken to recycle and reuse these clothes. Nearly 100% of textiles and clothing are recyclable but only 15% of consumer used clothing is recycled.

The average total life span of a piece of clothing is said to be about 5.4 years but in practice a piece of clothing is used for much less. If a piece of clothing is used for a few more months, it would reduce the carbon or water footprints as well as waste generation by 5 to 10%.

The clothes can be passed on to other people for upcycling/ reusing or donated to the underprivileged after mending them. But once a clothing article surpasses its age, it should be ensured that they are sent for recycling instead of getting dumped in landfills.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Our solution primarily aims to help the underprivileged sections of India. To battle the harsh winters in India, many people are unequipped with the necessary resources and proper clothing is one such thing. We aim to provide these people with proper clothing for free or at minimal prices.

In addition to this, we also intend to create a platform for all sections to take the initiative to promote donation, recycling and reusing of clothes.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

The members of our team are all involved in social activities like teaching underprivileged children or conducting donation drives in our schools or colleges.

We are based in Agra, India and experience harsh winters. We have often seen the underpriviledged deprived of clothing to protect themselves while many people discard their old clothes to keep up with the latest trends.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Taking action to combat climate change and its impacts (Sustainability)

Our solution's stage of development:

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

We are currently working on a prototype for our application. It is in its testing phase and being explored for its feasibility to test products, services and business models. We are conducting a market research to better understand the present needs of the people who would prove to be the potential users of our app.

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

Agra, Uttar Pradesh, India

Team Lead:

Anshika Jain