Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Our Earth yields billions of tons of natural resources every year, however at the rate humans are using these resources, at some point in the future they will run out. Since many of the world’s resources are finite, they need to be effectively utilised to last in a sustainable way.  Since 2018, on 18 March, Global Recycling Day has been commemorated and celebrated by environmentalists and activists to promote the cause. The idea for Global Recycling Day was first introduced at the World Recycling Convention in 2015, where the date was selected to mark the 70th birthday of the Bureau of International Recycling.

The purpose of Global Recycling Day is to create awareness about the rapid pace at which our natural resources are being used.  The day also celebrates the importance of recycling and promotes the concept and practice of recycling. The theme of the 2021 Global Recycling Day was ‘Recycling Heroes’, celebrating success stories of people and organisations working with recycling.  At TISB we have several students involved in recycling in creative and innovative ways. What follows are a few examples of these.

Repustak – The recycling paper notebooks and textbooks initiative

The RePustak initiative started as an environmental idea with a positive social twist in 2019.  The team behind the idea were Grade 10 students Eesha, Sreshta, Tara and Aparna, who aimed to reduce the excessive amount of paper waste generated from notebooks and textbooks in schools.  The problem they saw was an excess of unused white paper ending up as waste, and expensive textbooks being thrown away and ending up in already overburdened landfills.  In their opinion this is all due to a general lack of awareness and a lack of personal responsibility towards paper recycling.  Moreover, there is no reliable and effective system to motivate people to take action.

As part of the Inventure Changemaker Challenge, team RePustak developed a solution.  The project involved re-purposing old notebooks and textbooks.  The used pages were recycled and the blank pages were upcycled to make notebooks for government schools.  Any collected textbooks were distributed within TISB, therefore cutting the demand for new ones being bought.  As such, the initiative did not only have an environmental angle, but also one that encouraged participation by addressing social issues, as well as utilising basic incentives to reduce consumption.  Before the pandemic and the closure of school, the team placed collection bins by the Senior School Library where students could recycle unwanted notebooks and textbooks to support the cause.

LEAP – Composting, upcycling and raising awareness

LEAP, Leaders of Environmental Awareness and Protection, started off as a disappointing environmental club with just 3 members from TISB.  The club started as a way to offer opportunities to students to move outside of the traditional curriculum, and follow passions with an environmental focus.  After a restructuring and advertising, LEAP began expanding and connecting with environmental clubs in schools in Bangalore, as well as Singapore, Qatar and Thailand.

Many of the LEAP initiatives are focused around recycling and upcycling, and include competitions to prompt and encourage participation among students.  An example was the GreenWorks (https://www.greenworks.leap-initiative.com) competition launched in November 2020, where participants were divided into different challenges depending on Grades.  PY students created artwork, Middle School students upcycled household waste in a creative way and Senior School students had fun with composting.  Recently the LEAP team has re-initiated an e-waste drive in collaboration with the non-profit organisation Saahas and volunteers from schools across Bangalore.

ScrapWings – Empowering women through waste textile

Starting in December 2018, Viha who is now in Grade 11, has been leading an initiative called ‘ScrapWings’. Viha runs the non-profit initiative together with her friend in Surat, Gujarat – working with the textile industry and economically challenged and underprivileged women.  Surat is a textile hub and many businesses in and around the city are linked to the textile industry. Viha noticed that there were almost no efforts made to reduce the pollution caused by textile waste produced. She also realised there were opportunities to make use of the waste produced.

That is when Viha and her friend started the ScrapWings initiative with a twofold aim: to reduce negative environmental effects from textile industry, while at the same time providing livelihoods for underprivileged women in the rural areas of Gujarat. The organisation equips women with material and design templates, and gives them the possibilities to learn sewing skills, as well as providing an online platform for the women sell their products.  By combining environmental and socio-economic issues, the team behind ScrapWings have created an innovative and sustainable model for recycling waste that brings an inspiring livelihood incentive and encourages textile companies to contribute positively.

By having initiatives that encourage reuse and recycling, the leaders and participants are also spreading awareness about the impact of pollution and the use of finite resources.  Spreading awareness leads to more thoughtful and reduced consumption – completing the motto: ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’.  Together with Global Recycling Day we would like to celebrate the Recycling Heroes and that way:

1. Tell world leaders that recycling is simply too important not to be a global issue, and that a common, joined up approach to recycling is urgently needed.

2. Ask people across the planet to think resource, not waste, when it comes to the goods around us – until this happens, we simply won’t award recycled goods the true value and repurpose they deserve.