By Nidhi Singh
Three cardinal rules to save the environment are Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Green activists in India and across the world have rolled up their sleeves to chase their mission of creating awareness about the need to recycle used products.
It is important to understand that all leftovers are not always useless waste. A huge quantity of trash is disposed of inappropriately every day and this is one of the main concerns of environmentalists. A few start-ups have come forward to allay their worries with their innovative ideas to create something new, exquisite and useful out of junk.
They are not only recycling used products, but also promoting them and creating a market for them.
HelpUsGreen
River pollution is one of the major environmental concerns in India. Kanpur- based social enterprise HelpUsGreen is protecting the River Ganga from becoming a religious sewer by recycling used flowers from temples and mosques to patented lifestyle products, and in the process providing livelihood to 1,200 rural families. Self-help groups from rural India are constantly treating quintals of floral wastes to produce patented, organic fertilizer and incense sticks. The start-up was founded by two youngsters, Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi, in 2015. The duo quit jobs to pursue their mission of protecting the river from waste flowers and chemicals.
D&D Ecotech
D&D Ecotech Services was launched by social entrepreneur duo, Suresh D. and Sunil Dubey, in 2010 to solve water shortage crisis.
A specialist team was formed, whose members were trained in CSE(Centre for Science and Environment), Delhi, to understand how Rainwater Harvesting is done and to learn the best methods for implementing it.
The company has adopted time-tested methods for planning and implementing Rain Water Harvesting for water storage. It even recharges ground water for clients all over India. It has executed projects for clients like Ceat Tyres, HPCL, Bisleri, Asian Paints, among others. Rainwater harvesting is a simple process by which rainfall is collected for further future usage. D&D Ecotech also designs its own rainwater harvesting recharge structures, based on clients’ needs and specifications.
Code Enterprises
Cigarette butts littering streets is a familiar sight in Indian cities. This causes serious environmental hazard.
Cigarette waste is non-biodegradable, but it can be reused in various other by-products. CODE Enterprises LLP, an Indian cigarette-waste recycling company, reprocesses cigarette waste generated domestically or industrially. The Noida-based start-up is the brainchild of Gurgaon duo Vishal Kant and Naman Gupta. It uses environmental-friendly procedures for recycling waste.
The cigarette waste is recycled using biodegradable chemicals without any machinery. The waste water generated is also recycled for further usage in future.
Chindi
Every year, tones of textile and apparel wastes are generated and dumped by industries in landfills. The discarded clothing materials, however, turn harmful for the environment, post disposal. Chindi, a Mumbai-based social enterprise, employs women from marginalized neighborhoods to create homeware, accessories and jewellery. It collaborates with fashion brands, garment manufacturing units and organizations producing textile wastes to upcycle and reuse materials into well-designed products. Founded by Tanushri, it also provides employment to low-income craftspeople in India.
(Nidhi Singh is a feature writer at Entrepreneur.com)
Source: Entrepreneur
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