Our simple choices while we purchase affect the environment and its limited resources negatively or positively. The current consuming pattern in our Arab world encourages the accumulation of unnecessary possessions, which may end up locked in our bedroom closet, or in landfills.
Donating excess assets and making it available to those who need it instead of having them search for new products is an effective solution to alleviate this depletion of the Earth's resources.
Mersal shop
In 2024, Mersal association, which is an Egyptian NGO that works in the health sector, opened “Mersal Shop” for selling items donated and direct revenues for the sake of patients who are taken care of by the association.
The start from abroad
The idea of establishing the store, which is now present in Heliopolis neighborhood in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, came to the mind of Heba Rashed, the CEO and founder of the association, during her stay at the United Kingdom where she discovered many stores of this kind operating periodically and regularly by collecting in-kind donations and resell it to the public and witness great turnout.
During his interview with “Green in Arabic”,Ahmed Abdul Sattar, the manager of “Mersal Shop” recounts how the organization began studying the idea and researching its application in Egypt, until it was able to actually do so and open a store with its “integrated concept” and the “first” of its kind in Egypt.
Product variety
There is a link between the items received by the association, which is that most of them are luxury products, between new ones donated by their owners and lightly used ones, including clothes, electronic and home appliances, furniture, watches, imported bags, perfumes, antiques, and others.
Abdul Sattar points out the great diversity in the age and social groups that buy from the store, and whose nationalities also vary between Egyptians and foreigners, adding that the secret to this is the availability of all the needs that suit different groups, and even some of the exhibits - which were donated by their owners - are difficult to obtain from major shopping malls.
The biggest challenge that the association’s management thought it would face when starting the project was the extent to which the public would accept the idea of buying these collectibles, but Abdul Sattar pointed out the positive reaction to the project as soon as it was announced on social media platforms, and the inquiries that poured in to the association regarding it.
In a few months, the followers of “Mersal Shop” Facebook page neared ten thousand followers.
The manager of “Mersal Shop” clarified that the association’s encouragement for individuals to donate items they don’t use and convince them to buy from the store, guarantees many benefits from sustainable revenue of the association, and contributing to therapy of more patients, to maintain the environment.
