Cotton made in Africa becomes cooperation partner of “Platz schaffen mit Herz”
The Hamburg-based company OTTO will today launch its new clothing donation system through courier delivery called “Platz schaffen mit Herz”. The aim is to turn clothing donations into valuable donations with the proceeds exclusively benefiting non-profit organizations including the Cotton made in Africa initiative
The OTTO company has launched a new sustainability project as part of its “Initiative Future”. Operating under the name “Platz schaffen mit Herz”, OTTO will offer its customers the opportunity to send in sorted clothing, footwear, and home textiles as a clothing donation for free by courier. What is so special about this project, in addition to the new method for donating clothes by courier instead of a drop-off box, is the distribution of funds. This means proceeds from the resale of the textiles will be used exclusively for social and environmental purposes.
The Cotton made in Africa initiative, which has been working together with OTTO for years to improve the living conditions of cotton farmers in Africa, is one of the recipient organizations. “We are delighted to be working with “Platz schaffen mit Herz”. The proceeds we will receive will mainly be used to co-finance our community projects in the cotton growing areas. This will help us further strengthen our commitment to the families of cotton farmers,” says Tina Stridde, Managing Director of the Aid by Trade Foundation. Other non-profit organizations involved are the Naturschutzbund Deutschland e. V. (NABU) (German for German Society for Nature Conservation), and die Welthungerhilfe. In addition, proceeds from clothing sales will be invested in new technologies for fiber production.
“In dealing with the important issues such as the conservation and utilization of resources, we started a few months ago to focus our attention on the collection of old clothes. Most important to us was to create transparency in a sometimes very opaque market,” explains Anja Dillenburg, Head of Corporate Responsibility at OTTO, the driving force behind the campaign. “That’s why we work together with certified specialists who in turn have long-standing and open business relationships with their buyers.”
The launch of the nationwide collection campaign is scheduled for March 17 with initial donation results projected to be published in the spring of 2015.