Blog

Goonj, a volunteer-run recycling center in New Delhi—profiled in our short film “Not Just a Piece of Cloth”—was recently awarded the Indian NGO of the year award.

In April 2007, we spent a day at the Goonj headquarters talking with founder and director Anshu Gupta, who along with more than 300 individual volunteers and 100 grassroots agencies recycles and distributes over 20,000 kgs of material throughout India. Not only does Goonj collect and distribute large quantities of ready-to-go recycled materials, like clothing and blankets, but they also specialize in creative alterations, like children's  backpacks made from old jeans, school notebooks from discarded paper and sanitary napkins from sheets and cloth.

Watch our short film "Not Just a Piece of Cloth" and then go to the Goonj website to learn more about their innovative project and how you can contribute.