Paper is one of the most wasted natural resources in the world. To stop this wastage, Shreya Prakash started an initiative named Kora Kagaz. Kora Kagaz, which means blank paper, is a project that strives to reduce wastage of paper by making meaningful use of it. Unused notebook pages are made into new notebooks by students and distributed to underprivileged kids.
Shreya said that at the end of an academic year, a student is left with many unused sheets of paper which ads up to a lot of wastage. “If these sheets are to be collected, made into new books (of 50 pages each) and distributed to those children who do not have access to these resources, one school can roughly contribute 3,000 books.”
Kora Kagaz attempts to do this. “The unused sheets are segregated, made into bundles of 50, bound and then distributed to those who cannot afford them. Some are recycled and made into useful products like paper bags, notepads and envelopes,” said Shreya. Kora Kagaz was Shreya Prakash’s entry for the ‘Project Round’ of Teen of the Year in 2010, an annual pageant conducted by the Teenager Today magazine. It won the Best project — Special mention award and a seed capital.
The project was then piloted in Chinmaya Vidyalaya School, Taylors Road and in its first year Kora Kagaz succeeded in making 550 books, which were distributed to children of the Chennai Primary School, Odaikuppam at Besant Nagar. After this, Kora Kagaz roped in 10 city schools and colleges with a volunteer base in each institution. In its second edition, they made more than 5,000 books and distributed them to more than 500 kids in Vellore, Vilangadu, Gummidipundi and in the Chennai Primary School, T Nagar.
In 2012, Kora Kagaz was recognised by NDTV and placed third in the NDTV Greenathon 4.0 ‘Teens for Green’ contest. Kora Kagaz is gearing up for its next round of collection, trying to rope in more schools, become a registered NGO and set up a base in Bangalore.
Kora Kagaz now has a dedicated team of high school graduates, who are working towards reducing the carbon footprint.