Here’s a new way to make a difference and help the environment!

From the Give Back Box website “Give Back Box® was founded in USA in 2012 by Monika Wiela, who at the time was running an online shoe store. The idea was inspired by a homeless man she encountered in Chicago, who was holding up a sign saying he needed a pair of shoes. Wiela returned later that day with shoes for him, but he was gone. She spent that night thinking about what she could do with all the empty boxes in her warehouse and also help people like that man, and a new social enterprise was born. As Wiela researched further, she learned that, an estimated 11 million tons of clothing, footwear, towels, bedding, drapery, and other textiles end up in U.S. landfills every year. In addition, online shopping is now the preferred method for much of the buying public. Corrugated boxes are the dominant packaging method for e-commerce. With this knowledge, Wiela’s mission crystalized. If online retailers would use Give Back Box, shipping boxes and other items could be used a second time prior to being recycled. The impact would be remarkable.”

In Canada, Give Back Box has partnered with PUDO, which has a coast-to-coast Network of carrier-neutral parcel pick-up and drop-off locations, to handle pick-up and distribution to various charities, who stock the shelves with the gently used items.

What is Give Back Box program all about?

Did you know that by repurposing one used article of clothing, you’re reducing its carbon footprint by 82%?

The carbon savings of 82% is based on a reused garment as per the Green Story Environmental Study. Independent research firm, Green Story Inc. was contracted to calculate the environmental savings from reuse of secondhand garments sold by thredUP. The study compared the environmental burden of purchasing a brand-new garment with that of reusing an average garment sold by thredUP across all stages of the garment’s lifecycle. The savings were calculated across three areas: greenhouse gas emissions, energy use and water consumption. The study followed international ISO 14040 LCA standard.

HOW TO PARTICIPATE

Simply fill your empty Amazon, UPS, FEdex and other shipping boxes with donations of gently used clothing, jewelry, or other household items and ship them to their nonprofit partners!

Sending your donations is FREE and easy. Follow these simple steps to make a difference:

• Visit https://p.pudopoint.com/givebackbox to print your prepaid shipping label.
• Pack your gently used items into a box.
• Attach your shipping label and drop off your box and the nearest location. Here in Cornwall, this is Mitchell’s Variety Store located at 3034 Pitt Street. There are also a couple of locations in Crysler and Williamsburg.