Two students from a private school in Bengaluru have formed Club Hasiru Sole, through which they collect old footwear from the houses in their neighbouhood, restore them and distribute them to the children in orphanages, slum communities, pourakarmikas, sanitation workers and others.
Vedika Balachandar of Mallya Aditi International School, Yelahanka New Town, and Ameya Uchil, from The International School Bangalore (TISB), Sarjapura-Varthur Road, both from Grade 11, noticed many children and adults walking barefoot through streets littered with waste, exposed to sharp objects, and dirt.
This led to the inception of Club Hasiru Sole in February 2023, an initiative centered around upcycling discarded shoes.
Over 6,000 pairs donated so far
Vedika and Ameya began by collecting old shoes from local households, schools, and community centers. Club Hasiru Sole has been running with 14 members, and as of now, they have distributed more than 6,000 pairs of shoes to various rural communities, domestic workers in various apartment complexes, children in orphanages, pourakarmikas of Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and others.
“While many of us throw away used footwear even if they are in a reasonable shape, we see children walking with no footwear. Same thing with BBMP pourakarmikas, whose footwear faces severe wear and tear. I met Ameya at a rural community education event, and that’s when we decided to do something which will make a difference on the ground. We did the research, created an ecosystem of donors and volunteers, engaged labour to upscale used footwear and distributed them,” says Vedika.
“Last year, we went to an event in Mumbai. During this time, the idea of distributing shoes to the children and people of Dharavi slum came to mind. Dharavi in Mumbai is the largest slum in the country, and we took more than a thousand pairs of shoes from here and distributed them. We are doing all these activities with our pocket money and the cooperation of our parents,” says Vedika.
Ameya says that restoring the shoes is hard since finding cobblers is difficult in Bengaluru nowadays. “Sometimes, we go to the city outskirts to find them. This way, we are helping them earn a livelihood too,” she observes.
More plans in the pipeline
The role of Vedika’s mother Chitra Bala behind this work is immense.
“Each year, over 20 billion pairs of shoes are manufactured globally, contributing to 1.4% of worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. Sadly, a significant number of these shoes end up in landfills, adding to the already overwhelming burden of non-biodegradable waste. Recycling, while a better alternative to disposal, involves energy-intensive processes such as melting and shredding, which degrade the material quality and consume vast amounts of water. Therefore, Ameya and Vedika founded Club Hasiru Sole,” says Chitra Bala.
“In the coming days, our club will create awareness about shoe recycling in the community, schools, colleges, apartments. And, drop boxes will be placed everywhere and shoes will be collected. We have already opened an Instagram page to collect shoes online as well. We have also provided an e-mail ID, hasirusole@gmail.com,” Vedika explains.
