WASTE TO WONDERMENT

Green the Map, Delhi

Recycling mantra

Upcycling, extending the life cycle of a product, in this case trash that goes to landfill sites as waste

Green the Map is the fair trade arm of Vimlendu Jha’s voluntary organisation, Swechha. While shooting a documentary, 39-year-old Jha saw the amount of waste being disposed at the already overflowing landfill sites around Delhi. He also realised that the efforts of those who collect garbage, like ragpickers and waste collectors, was not being recognised. Green the Map was set up to find solutions to the problem, in an effort to add value while ‘recreating’ the product. Working with the concept of a circular economy, someone’s waste becomes another person’s raw material.

Green the Map works with ragpickers and sources waste from waste markets. A dedicated team looks at the waste and, keeping the medium (type of waste) in mind, decides on the product. The medium reaches the workshop where the design and manufacturing team take over. There are about 20 people working at Green the Map and it has executed around a hundred designs till now. The current annual turnover of the venture is about Rs 1 crore.

The waste used could be anything, from tyre tubes, beer cans to juice cartons and packets of chips. They all get a new, upcycled lease of life as wallets, belts, bags, home decor—including lights, trays, bowls—clothing, collars for pets as well as stationery items.

“Our cities are drowning under our own trash, spilling over into lakes, rivers and oceans too. We need to critically look at our consumption behaviour and its footprint before it is too late” —VIMLENDU JHA