NEW DELHI: She is a mother and a saviour of environment. Meet the modern day rag picker, Seema Upadhyay, who is widely known in the Delhi University North campus not by her designation but through her work of saving the environment by creating useful things out of waste. Analytical expert at Delhi University's department of chemistry, Upadhyay vows to these three words-Reduce, Reuse and Recycle to protect the environment and save energy and resources.
Sharing her journey, the 42-year-old told The Sunday Standard, “Initially, I used to make toys and greeting cards from waste material collected from the college campus to make children happy. Gradually, it became my passion. People used to call me kabadi wali (rag picker) and laugh at me as picking up waste material from streets and grounds was my routine. But I never felt bad about it.”
She has now approached the Delhi Metro with a detailed plan on how to use waste material for making useful things such as pen holder, greeting cards and decorative items, to name a few.
Her day starts with jogging and picking up waste, which is later used in making creative goods.
“I never got support from anybody so I took the help of students of different departments on the campus. Now, I have my own NGO and we have more than 100 enthusiastic volunteers, who come up with new ideas to take this art ahead,” said Seema, who started this initiative on her own in 2010. Since then, she has also been conducting seminars on conservation and workshops on recycling waste to produce useful articles. She has conducted these seminars in 40 colleges affiliated to Delhi University and aspires to continue the practice.
Waste material such as papers and plastic bottles are used to demonstrate making of artefacts during the seminars and the product are given back to the college.
“I send request to the colleges to collect their waste material. Then, we conduct workshops with the help of social service unit of that institute and involve the students largely,” said Seema, who spreads her message through social media sites as well.
Members of her NGO, Sankalp Environmental and Social Development Foundation, also help students in creating artefacts, greeting cards and antiques from waste material.