The Eco upcyclers

Sumedha Sharma
 
Just 11 km away from the glitzy malls and swanky high-rise buildings of the millennium city, Gurgaon, there is small village that bears the true brunt of this rapid and unchecked industrialisation.
As you enter Bandhwari, a foul smell engulfs you. The village hosts a solid waste treatment plant and has a massive landfill site. With the narrow lanes, open drains, stray dogs and cattle, the village is just like any other in district in Haryana and so are the folk.
Veiled with bright coloured dupattas and tending buffalos for most part of the day, the women here seem to be just like many others across the state.
There is, however, one thing that has set them apart— they work wonders with old newspapers.
Something, which most of us only reuse best by selling to scrap dealers, these 20-odd women have made it into means of livelihood. They are transforming these old newspapers into magic products and transforming their lives in the process.
“When I was first approached by the Action Centre for Transformation (ACT), an NGO, with idea I was not at all sure or confident. I thought it may be a paper boat or paper plane type products, so I didn’t think it to be fit for my age. A little coaxing got me into this, as I took it up to pass time like making cushion covers or weaving sweaters. But when I saw the end results with old newspaper being transformed into lovely diyas, lampshades, pots an much more, I was amazed. But you know what is best part?” says Rekha, one of the woman working for ACT, “I feel great not because how I transformed this newspaper but how it changed my life. I started earning and have now converted my kutcha house into a pucca one, and even got a toilet constructed with my own earned money. Now even my husband takes time out and helps me with this work.”
“I always thought that I helped my husband by taking care of the house and saving money from house expenditure but you should have looked at his face when I gave him my first earning of Rs 1,500. Today, I help my family not just by saving but also earning,” adds a smiling Rekha.
The women started with making simple lamp-shades have now upgraded to making and selling 40 different items, including eco lights and lamps, eco diyas, jewellery, accessories, stationary and even furniture.
Recently, the group has been working hard to master the art of making coffee tables for some MNC executives and are fiercely guarding their wonder product.
According to Kusum, a master trainer, the products are made waterproof and sturdy by applying a coat of Fevicol, lacer and thinner and then get a layer of varnish before being dried in the sun.
The women are provided with the raw material and a professional trainer comes to teach them new techniques or designs once in every two months.
 “We started it as an experiment a year back and now very happy at its success. It is heartening to see that the simple village women, whom we were trying to train about simple art and economics, are true entrepreneurs today. They talk about customer needs, demands, alteration in designs and even marketing strategies. The best part about the whole project is that it is called upcycling just because unlike recycling it requires no energy or money to get things out of waste and the paper is used in its simplest form. The help, for a change, is not asked in monetary denominations, but simply in form of old newspapers,” says Nilanjana Das, founder of ACT, the organisation spearheading the effort .
The group has not only registered its presence and sold artefacts at several handicrafts and dastarkaar melas but have also been invited by the likes of Panasonic, TCS, Wallmart, Hindusthan Zinc Limited, Udaipur and other corporate houses to share their skills with their employees.
Various educational institutions such as Scottish High International School and Manav Rachna have been sending their students on educational tours to Bandhwari to understand the know-how behind the art.
“ Whenever I and my friends saw businesswoman in pants and skirts talking business on cell phones, we used to mesmerized by them. But I can’t explain how good it felt when all those corporate wome, including some foreigners, sat in the conference hall and listened to us with their eyes wide open. We feel quite a corporate person now as we work and manage markets and even have a promotion system. I am a master trainer now,” says a chirpy 20-year-old Aju, who has been saving her earnings for a better future.
The spark in her eyes leaves us amazed over her confidence but more commendable is the fact that these women are now teaching many more such women. Master trainers like Kanta have been travelling to Udaipur for teach their art to a group of 40 rural women.