Refugees ‘plastic waste warriors’

Afghan women in bid to curb pollution in India

NEW DELHI, June 24, (RTRS): Farah Naz is used to attracting scathing remarks and disapproving looks from neighbours in her Afghan refugee community as she leaves for work each day.

They tell her she is “not a good woman”, what she is doing is “shameful” and that her rightful place is inside her south Delhi home — caring for her sick husband and five children.

But after fleeing the Taleban five years ago — where she was drenched in kerosene and almost burnt alive, her husband was ordered killed, and her children were threatened with kidnap — the 32-year-old refugee woman is past caring what people think.

She is on her way to becoming a business woman.

“I had no choice but to work, and now I am proud,” said Naz. “I am feeding my family and changing the view of women in my community, but most importantly I am doing a job which is showing that refugees also can do something good.”

Naz is one of five Afghan refugee women who are not only battling traditional gender roles by going out to work, but who have also become unlikely warriors in the Indian capital’s fight to curb plastic waste pollution.

Task

The task is immense and 10 hands will not solve it. But this project is gaining international support for its twin roles of addressing India’s chronic waste problem and empowering refugee women who often flounder in their adopted homelands.

Employed under “Project Patradya” — an initiative led by Delhi University students — the Afghan women produce and supply edible bowls, cups and cutlery to cafes and ice-cream parlours as an alternative to non-biodegradable plastic ones.

Made from millet and wheat flour, the biscuit-like tableware is gaining popularity in the West as a sustainable, environment-friendly option to disposable plastic utensils, and those behind the initiative believe India is an untapped market.

“We wanted to create a social enterprise model which was not only looking at improving the environment but also had a business plan that could employ excluded communities such as refugees,” said 20-year-old commerce student Nishchay Hans.

Hans is one of more than 40 students at Kirori Mal College (KMC) who are part of Enactus, a charity that supports young people across the world work with poor communities and build sustainable, eco-friendly businesses.

Their projects range from creating mobile salons for unemployed hairdressers in Ghana to working with villagers in Malaysia to build home stays — all with the aim of eventually handing over the businesses to communities to run themselves.

With New Delhi generating around 650 metric tonnes (650,000 kg) of plastic waste daily, only 60 percent of which is recycled, KMC students honed in on plastic pollution as a serious and neglected social problem.

They found disposable plastic plates, bowls, cups and utensils make up much of the plastic waste in Delhi’s burgeoning landfills, where it can take up to up to 1,000 years to decompose and leak pollutants into the soil and water.

Most of the litter and pollution affecting oceans also derives from plastics. This has dire consequences for marine species, which in turn is harmful for those further up the food chain, including humans, who consume the contaminated fish.

During their months of research, the students visited Delhi cafes and consulted restaurateurs, bakers and customers — eventually settling on the idea of edible tableware as an alternative to use-and-throw utensils.