DEVYANI TRIVEDI, RE-STORE

Many of us are guilty of shopping for things we probably don’t even need. But here’s Devyani Trivedi who has started a movement to promote the mind-set of reusing, exchanging, renting, repairing and sharing rather than buying new or wasting! This ambitious movement and her sheer persistence led to the setup of Re-store where Devyani reaches out to people who have physical goods that no longer “sparks joy” in their lives, collects, categorizes and prices them. She even repairs and upcycles goods and sells it to those who are looking for the products.

The journey started in January 2017, with donations from a close group of friends and by April 2017 Re-Store was launched with a hope to make a difference and encourage mindful living. Devyani says, “Every day is a new learning at the store. You became aware of the disparity – why does one have things in abundance and the other not even sufficient to survive? These daily observations are my biggest inspiration.”

Devyani strongly feels that sharing has absolutely no connection with how much one has.  Caste and religion has no connection with how one celebrates occasions. On a lighter note, she adds “Yes, one can actually survive without soap for a month!”

On being asked what is the most difficult part of her job, she admits that only one thing comes to mind, “At times there are situations where I have to get strict with my customers and tell them they can buy only limited pieces of a particular item” Also, limited donations and convincing donors that they too can buy from the store are two other challenges Devyani has to tackle.

Her only ask of the readers of The Wonder Women World is “Think twice before you buy. Shopping should be based on necessity and not emotions. Did you know, it takes 2,700 litres of water to produce on single cotton t-shirt? We have only so much remaining. Please share and reuse.”