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Get Rid Of Your Paper Waste In Exchange For Plants, This 39-Year-Old Noida Woman Shows How

From newspapers we read every morning to the magazines we read in leisure time, from the story books we read, to the diaries we use to write, each and everything is made of paper. Have you ever wondered what happens with all these things once they are dated? They just end up as waste in some or the other landfill. But to change this reality, Noida woman has started an initiative.

In 2016, when 37-year-old Sudha Singh shifted from Delhi to Noida, she realised that in her society they don't have a proper waste management system, unlike Delhi, where they used to have a door-to-door garbage collection van through which they were able to segregate waste.

Sudha, who was on a break from her 13-year-long career in the corporate sector to focus on her son, decided that she needs to do something. She approached different authorities, talked to them on how waste segregation can be implemented, why is it not implemented in different areas of Noida.

Though she didn't receive a positive response from the authorities, she didn't leave the idea of bringing in a change. In a bid to change the waste management system in Noida, at least in her society, Sudha decided to do something on her own. It is then she initiated Wasteroots, under which she gives plant in exchange of paper waste.

Instead of exchanging paper waste with scrap dealers for a sum of money, people residing in Noida can exchange it for a plant of their choice and contribute to a cleaner and a greener environment.

To give waste, one can either raise a request or drop the waste at Sudha's doorstep. But Sudha and her team go for collection only when they have 15-20 sellers from that particular area. Once the waste is collected, it is sent to paper mill against a particular sum of money.

At Wasteroots, 10 kilograms of paper waste is equivalent to Rs. 100. Say, you have got 15 kgs of paper waste, you can take a plant/plants costing up to Rs. 150. Sudha has got a whole product line of plants and pots and an individual can purchase a plant according to their needs.

As of today, Sudha has sold 17,217 plants and recycled 137 tonnes of paper waste. She has 3000-3200 regular customers across Noida who provide paper waste every month.

Sudha's priority was both paper and plastic waste, but for now, she is working only with paper waste, reason being, plastic is voluminous to carry and for plastic waste, a set of infrastructure, logistics, and other things are required.