According to the Central Pollution Control Board, the estimated waste generation in India is 1,41,064 tonnes per/day. In urban areas, 50% of the generated dry recyclable waste is paper waste. Unfortunately, only 25-28% of the paper waste is recovered and recycled. Estimates show that when one tonne of paper is recycled, it contributes to saving approximately 31,780 litres of water, a critical resource that can support the productivity and livelihood of hundreds of farmers.
Divya Shetty and Vishnu Vardhan are two sociopreneurs who are supporting farmers meet their resource requirements, helping the nation move from a linear to circular economy, and saving the planet through their tech-based waste management innovations.
Hailing from a family of farmers, a turning point in Divya's life was when she came across the news of multiple farmer suicides in Mandya, Karnataka, which shook her having gone through something similar in her family. Even Vishnu reconsidered his life choices when he came to know about the struggles faced by farmers.
Starting with just two organic farmers they scaled to a network of 840 organic farmers in just two years. While working with them, they came across the issues of paper waste and water shortage. The need to solve this issue led to the foundation of Peppa Co., a startup that creates sustainable value-added goods from waste that can be planted. These plantable products include pencils, stationery, newspaper, etc.
Furthermore, to fulfil their mission of a world without waste, and waste isn't wasted, Cercle X was born in 2020. It is India's first-ever company that manages waste through digital mediums for pre-consumers and post-consumers. One of its initiatives includes donating a dustbin to a locality for every NFT minted.
Both Divya Shetty and Vishnu Vardhan believe that a true changemaker is not a keyboard warrior but someone who goes out into the world and works towards making a difference. They have been awarded the Best Environmentalist Award by the Entrepreneurs Council of India and recognised as “Young Leaders Creating a Better World For All” by Women Economic Forum for their endeavours.
Join us in recognising Divya Shetty and Vishnu Vardhan's efforts towards making our real world environmentally and economically sustainable. Watch their story unfold on Network18 presents Badlaav Humse Hai powered by AU Small Finance Bank: https://bit.ly/3MIlgY0
Moneycontrol journalists were not involved in the creation of the article.
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