April 19 , 2021, NAVI MUMBAI: Greensole or www.greensole.com is an Indian-based company that recycles old shoes, upcycles them to designer wear, and at the same time, provides footwear for the poor. It creates employment opportunities for rural women. Thus, the company aims to achieve good for the environment, society, and the economy.

Greensole was founded by two enterprising athletes, Ramesh Dhami and Shriyans Bhandari, who used to run several miles a year. In the process, they used to wear out at least 3 to 4 pairs of sports shoes every year. They found that the soles of the shoes were in good condition even though their sides were torn within a few months.

The duo always wondered if the intact soles of such prized sports shoes could be put into any other use. After doing some research, the two of them hit upon the idea of refurbishing these into trendy slippers. This brainwave ultimately spawned the creation of an eco-friendly enterprise that re-uses shoe soles and is suitably named Greensole. The idea is to upcycle designer wear online.

The vision of the company is to contribute to the good of society by creation of a self-sustaining infrastructure that facilitates the basic need of footwear for everyone. This helps preserve the environment by refurbishing discarded shoes with zero carbon footprint and economic good by providing employment for poor families in the process.

The company is led by the mission to upcycle and donate millions of pairs of footwear to children in need as well as to create employment opportunities for women in rural areas. The company envisions a change in three aspects: economic, social, and environmental.

The social impact is by offering footwear to children in need and empowering women through skill centres of Greensole. It enables the arrangement in which when you buy a pair of footwear for Rs. 199 or contribute a donation of the same amount; a pair of footwear will also be donated to a needy person.

The environmental impact of the company is by recycling discarded shoes to comfortable footwear and thus prevents discarded shoes from choking landfills of cities. The company contributes to the economy by retailing eco-friendly footwear for the sake of constructing a social venture that is self-sustaining.

With the facility to buy vegan designer wear online, the company has won accolades in the industry. The footwear from the company has been featured twice in the ramps of Lakme Fashion Week. In 2018, the company tied up with Tilla by Aratrik Varman for designing sustainable footwear. In 2019, it collaborated with designers Abraham & Thakore for designing eco-friendly furry slippers to grace Sustainable Fashion Day.

The company has been awarded the Lexus India Design Award 2017 and the 2018 social entrepreneur of the year award by the Economic Times. They have been featured in the Forbes 30, under 30 in 2018. In 2018, with the help of Tata Steel and Lion’s club, they began a skill centre for employing the rural poor.