Westend and Woodapest: 38 New Trees to Andrássy Avenue

On Earth Day this April, the Budapest shopping center Westend's second-hand clothes collection space, ReStore, opened its doors, where, in addition to collecting surplus textiles, it also hosts various sustainability-related activities. Loyalty points are awarded on the Westend app for used clothing donations, which could also be redeemed for tree planting when the project was launched. Over the past eight months, more than 25 tons of clothes have been donated for recycling and 38 new trees have been planted on the capital’s Andrássy Avenue.

Earlier this month, 38 new trees were planted on Andrássy Avenue as a joint project between Westend and the non-profit organization Woodapest. Since April 2022, they have been working together to plant more trees in the city center over time.

The first step was the tree planting on Andrássy Avenue. Woodapest's mission is to bring together the civil and public sectors, and to work with professionals to make the urban environment greener. Together with Westend, they set out to reforest the districts near the shopping center, using their ReStore, which opened in April and regularly reminds customers of the many ways we can help to reduce the burden on our environment.

Westend ReStore's doors are open six days a week for anyone to drop off their excess clothes, reducing our environmental footprint. If someone fills at least one bag, they'll receive 100 points in the Westend app, which they can redeem for various eco-friendly items. You can get a wet bag made from recycled material, a canteen or a designer canvas bag, but when the shop opened, you could also choose to have the shopping center buy and plant a tree on behalf of the person who dropped off the bag. Thanks to this option and, of course, to the environmentally conscious donations of shoppers, 38 new trees were planted on Andrássy Avenue.

According to the Marketing Director of Westend, Judit Pőcze, "we are very proud of our shoppers, as this tree planting shows that many of them are choosing to become our partners in creating a more livable city. Westend places a high priority on being a responsible company that cares for the environment, and we are happy to involve our visitors in this. We want to provide space and knowledge for those who want to do something for their environment. The ReStore offers a variety of ways to do this, from collecting second-hand clothes to running regular workshops, organizing various sustainability activities, and hosting a charity school supply drive with Maltese Relief. These 38 new trees are a spectacular testimony to the success of the ReStore and we hope that over time more and more trees will be seen by the people of Budapest from the Westend point collection."