Anita Ahuja founded Conserve to address New Delhi's plastic waste problem and help impoverished ragpickers. Conserve recycles plastic bags into sheets to make products like bags, raincoats, and umbrellas. They train ragpickers in the recycling process and sell the products internationally. This addresses the waste issue while generating profit and bringing ragpickers out of poverty by providing jobs with higher incomes.

1. Anita Ahuja
Rags to riches
-By Aditi Redkar (B 27)

2. Social Entrepreneur
O Recognition of a social problem & creating a venture to
solve the problem.
O business entrepreneurs measure success by amount of
profit, whereas social entrepreneurs according to how
much society has benefitted.
O Social Problem In Delhi:
O New Delhi Generates Four thousand tons of
waste a day, of which 15 percent is plastic.

3. Social Problem In Delhi:
O New Delhi Generates Four thousand tons of waste a
day, of which 15 percent is plastic.
O Anita Ahuja focuses on 2 Issues -Delhi’s plastic waste
crisis and the community of ragpickers who collect and
separate garbage, including plastics.
O The average living cost in Delhi was Rs. 4000 pm
(basic needs) but these ragpickers earned Rs. 1500-
2000 pm
O Anita Ahuja had the vision to make a change – benefit of
Mother Earth and also to alleviate the poor.

4. Fabric of Change
O Discovered the way to recycle plastic and create
multiple products out of waste.
O Her organisation, Conserve, creates large plastic sheets
from discarded plastic bags using a process.
O These plastic sheets are then fashioned into products
such as diaries, bags, raincoats, and umbrellas.

5. Contd..
O The ragpickers were soon trained the whole staffing
process including the labour, collecting plastic,
persuading the product to customers at exhibitions and
spreading the word. This way, they are brought out of
poverty
O Conserve got a recognition on an international level as
well because of the fact being a green product and yet
being stylish.

6. O Conserve’s handbags are sold at several high-end retail
shops in London, and in the European stores of such
well- established labels such as Benetton.
O More than an NGO Conserve in now known as a brand
more
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNXJCdxzeoA

7. Products made at Conserve

8. Thank You!
By creating products out of recycled materials and selling
them at high end stores, Anita not only alleviates the waste
problem in New Delhi, but generates a considerable
amount of profit.Also, by hiring ragpickers and educating
them, she brings them out of poverty, and gives them a
brighter future.