WhatGives!? Do Something Good…

There’s nothing like a two-for-one sale to get my attention, especially when it involves fashion. So imagine my delight to discover that eBay’s Green Team is matching donated dollars to the Uniform Project during the month of December!  (The only thing that would make this better is if the afore-mentioned “uniform” in question was being modeled by a firefighter, but we’ll save the self-analysis for later.)  The Uniform Project is a very simple, but very effective example of how one person can use social media to do good half a world away.

Sheena Matheiken knows uniforms.  Her school in India required them, so the idea of wearing the same thing every day is familiar.  But from that experience she learned that wearing the same thing and looking the same don’t necessarily go hand in hand.  Her friends would add a little something to their basic outfit to show a little personality.  That spark of expression inspired Sheena to launch The Uniform Project.

Every day since last May, Sheena has put on one of seven identical dresses. Every day she adds accessories (often donated by her many fans) or other articles of clothing.  Every day she puts another dollar of her own in the bank for the Akansha Foundation.  Her goal was simple: at the end of one year she would have over $360.  $360 is the amount needed to for one of the 7.5 million Indian children who never get to attend school to get the education they need.  Simple, clear, attainable goal.  But what if someone else put in a dollar or two as well?  Easy peasy – use the internet to spread the word.  Result? The project has been such a success that, not only has it raised almost $47,000 in the first six months, there are also plans to manufacture and sell the now-famous uniform.

A bonus is the sustainability aspect of this project.  Do we really need closets full of outfits and separates and coordinates and layers?  Sheena thinks not and the eBay Green Team agree.  Saluting this simple choice of less, they’re matching every dollar donated in December up to $15,000.  Director of eBay’s Green Team, Amy Skoczlas-Cole, explained that teaming up with The Uniform Project seemed like a natural extension of their belief that the greenest product out there is actually the one that already exists.  Skoczlas-Cole added that Sheena is promoting “sustainable fashion with style and creativity that can transcend the ‘green’ niche. It’s showing how being green is a trade-up, not a trade-off — an idea that the world needs more champions of.”

The Uniform Project is also symbolic that we are all basically cut from the same cloth, but with different “accessories” to individualize us.  Every child everywhere deserves an education.  We deserve a planet filled with smart, productive citizens.  Come on, people, it’s a buck.  Until the end of the year the eBay Green Team will make it two. Do it.