Zero Waste. Real Change.

Plastic: From Convenience to Crisis
Plastic is everywhere—cheap, durable, and nearly impossible to avoid. From food packaging to building materials to the smallest household items, it has woven itself into our daily lives.

It wasn't always this way. In India, reuse was once second nature. Newspapers were resold, glass bottles refilled, clothes repurposed. Even the corner shop would wrap purchases in yesterday's paper. But over time, plastic's convenience pushed aside these habits—and its environmental costs began to mount.

In 2021, MarketPlace's Social Action program started a conversation with women artisans: What's the real problem with plastic? Through workshops with environmental experts, the women learned how plastic lingers for centuries, polluting soil and water, harming wildlife, and leaching toxins into our food chain. The discussions ignited determination to act.

From Awareness to Action
Change began with small, visible steps. At a festival, the women stitched and gave away cloth bags to promote alternatives. On World Environment Day, they visited neighborhood shops, sharing how plastic harms the environment and urging owners to switch to reusable options. Resistance was common, but seeds of change were planted.

The women then took on a bigger challenge: collecting and recycling plastic from their own homes. This was no small feat in crowded living spaces, but they make it work—meeting regularly to swap ideas, encourage each other, and keep the momentum alive. MarketPlace partners with recycling centers to arrange pickups, and the women visited a plant to see the transformation process firsthand.

Building a Culture of Responsibility
Today, a recycling van makes weekly stops at three locations near the cooperatives. Plastic is weighed, collected, and sent to recycling facilities. But this initiative is about more than diverting waste from landfills—it's about building awareness, fostering community responsibility, and proving that small, collective actions can create meaningful environmental change.

By leading with knowledge and persistence, these women are showing their families and neighborhoods that sustainable living isn't just an ideal—it's a choice we can all make, one bag, one conversation, one week at a time.