Green Stories

Conserve India started out as an NGO working in sustainability is 1998 and later converted to a social entrepreneurship model in 2004. Since then, Conserve has been working in a variety of fields starting out from energy efficiency to waste management by composting, recycling and upcycling.

India produces about .14 million tonnes of garbage daily. Out of which only 28% is treated. This leads to tonnes of garbage entering landfill sites on a daily basis. Apart from landfills being an eyesore, metropolitan cities in India are running out of landfill space. Landfills are breeding grounds for diseases and are severely affecting the unorganized sector of the ragpicker community who reside right beside landfill sites. Open decomposition of waste often leads to spontaneous combustion adding to the air pollution in India’s cities. Toxic waste from these sites is penetrating into the soil and water that feeds the cities.

Conserve has developed a patented technique to upcycle plastic waste from landfills into an attractive new material called “Handmade Recycled Plastic (HRP)”. HRP is used to create high fashion products like Handbags, Belts, Stationery etc. Conserve also uses other materials available in the waste stream – seatbelts, tents, HDPE sacks, lifejackets to create upcycled products. By buying a Conserve bag, belt, wallet, shoe or necklace, you not only get to be a trend setter with a beautiful, funky piece of high fashion, you will also be helping some of India’s poorest people, and its environment.

Conserve has also recently launched an initiative in Food Security called Clever Bud to promote sustainable soil-less farming. The Clever Bud initiative was launched to ensure safe and productive farming of vegetables using advanced hydroponic techniques that allows food to grow at a rate which is 5-7 times faster than traditional farming. This not only allows a greater quantity of food to be grown per unit area per unit time but also the food thus, produced is of higher nutritional value than most produce sold in the market. It is a modern form of organic farming which encompasses all the benefits of organic farming while also eliminating diseases caused via soil and the ill-effects of pesticides and herbicides.
You can also lend your support by voting for the ‘Conserve India’ initiative here.For more information. visit the Conserve India web site at https://conserveindia.org