Concept
3R is a market place for good (or even new) but unused “stuff” or “things” that helps environment with proceeds going to charities. “3R Bazar” was conceptualized by a 10th grader girl Diya Siddha. It was launched in Ujjain in August 2018 with help and support from “UjjainWale” – an FB group with 100k members from the city of Ujjain that engages itself in social and environmental good through various means and initiatives, 3R being one of the prominent ones.
Problem
People have lots of good (or even new) but unused “stuff” that they cannot donate or sell or dispose for valid reasons – too busy, want to be sure it is put to good use by whoever gets it, are too old to do anything about it, are not online savvy to list and sell it etc. At times people pass away with children away or abroad who may need help with what to do with all the “stuff” left behind.
Solution
Create a marketplace for such things. People can donate, buyers can buy, money goes to charity and most importantly things get reused.
Benefits
1) Sellers reduce clutter and are sure their stuff is put to good use. They can donate all to charity or ask for 50-80% of the selling price back if they wish.
2) Buyers get good or excellent quality stuff (sometimes new) at attractive prices
3) Money is put to right use by being donated to charities
4) Most importantly – Environment is helped in a big way by people reusing things – no new trees being cut, no new resources being unearthed, huge amounts of packaging material is saved (especially in case of big items such as furniture and appliances etc.), 95% impact due to transportation on environment is reduced etc.
Current Status
Within couple of months of its launch, it had collected and sold many items generating Rs.75K in revenue, which is a great proof of concept given size, population and environment awareness level in a small town like Ujjain.
Next Phase
To launch 3R Bazar in big cities with sizeable mobile population. The next set of target cities (in right areas in these cities) are
- Indore
- Pune
- Mumbai
- Hyderabad
- Bangalore
- Gurgaon
- Noida
- Chandigarh
- Chennai
Press
FB Page https://www.facebook.com/3RBazar/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/UjjainWale/