Here's how a mother taught her infant to recycle

It's cute and inspiring

A few weeks ago, I spoke to Marija from North Macedonia, a country in South Europe (for those whose geography is as bad as mine)

She’s been reading the newsletter for some time now and had some amazing feedback for me.

Apart from that, she told me a very cute and inspiring story.

In November 2021, Marija, along with a social enterprise REDI Recycling got recycling bins installed in their apartment building. Before that, everything was going to landfills.

At that time, Marija’s son was 7 months old.

By spring 2022, they had taught them to throw stuff in the recycling bin (obviously with them lifting him). Look at him below. He’s a pro now😎

Marija and her making sure they throw the right stuff in the recycling bin

Their recycling process starts at their home.

Now we have this space at home at his height where we collect the stuff for recycling during the day and take them to the bins together when we go out. That is a pit stop we never miss :)

The recycling place at Marija’s place, which can be accessed by her son

I’m trying to be a positive example to him and teaching him by doing. I also appreciate the effort all neighbours showed (who were skeptical in the beginning) but later became supportive, andchanged their habits in sorting plastic and paper.

Such an inspiring story!

I am sure all of you are doing something in your personal capacity to make this planet a better place to live.

Send me your story by replying to this email(you could send a voice note as well) and I would cover it in this section.

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Moving onto this week’s content. So today, we have👇🏽

• A startup that’s helping used toys find a new home

• Another startup that’s ensuring that more waste is recycled

• Some good news

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🧸This startup is helping used toys find a new home

I am bored… When a child’s play interest changes, their existing toys are replaced by new ones. And what happens to the existing ones? Well, they reach landfills or oceans. Research studies show parents admitting to throwing away perfectly working toys because their child was no longer interested in them.

Freecycling toys…UK-based Young Planet is helping these perfect toys find new homes. Through the app, busy parents can pass on toys and children’s stuff to other parents. This helps families to reduce their waste and become more environmentally conscious. The platform is based on a sharing economy model- the new owners of the toys don’t pay anything to get the used toys or other items.

• Parents can list or request a range of different children’s items- books, toys, baby equipment.

• If more than one person wants the same item, the winner is decided by factors like who donated more and who needs it more.

• To ask for an item, parents don’t have to list anything.

Left- Founders Emma and Jason Ash with their children; Right- Young Planet app

Look around you…The app asks for your postcode when you register so that it can find people around you. That makes the whole transaction easier and removes the hassle of packaging and shipping it (less burden on the environment too). In case the item has to be shipped, the person who wants the item pays for the postage.

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♻️This startup is ensuring that more waste gets recycled

Ticking time bomb…Urban India generates ~62 million tonnes of waste (MSW) annually. And this is going to triple by 2030. A vast majority of it ends up in landfills and a very small amount is treated. Most of these landfills are illegal and the waste from them flows into the land and water bodies- impacting the food we eat and the water we drink. Recycling facilities across the country are scarce and neglected.

Buy back your waste…A cleantech startup in the country is not only helping with getting more waste recycled, but it’s also facilitating the purchase of recycled products. Through its app, Recycle.Green connects consumers, waste collection partners, product delivery partners, recyclers, zero-waste product manufacturers, sellers, artisans, and manufacturing brands. 

• Users can schedule doorstep pickup of their recyclable waste on the app.

• The waste is recycled and made into new products- stationery, bags, kitchenware.

• These new products are sold on the app and users can purchase them directly.

Bag made from recycled plastic bottles

Quantified…Each product on the platform also has an Environment Saving Values (ESV™)- a concept patented by the brand. It’s measured by taking into account factors like trees saved by upcycling the product. This helps buyers understand the positive environmental impact of their purchase.

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😹 Some Good News

🦍 Rise of the planet of the apes: Endangered mountain gorilla population grows by 71%

💚 Back to the future: Scientists develop a plan to regreen the Sinai peninsula

☀️ The year of Renewables: Renewables to become the world’s biggest source of electricity generation by 2025

Shoutout to Aakanksha for making this punny

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🔦 I would love to cover your story

If you’re a brand that has planet Earth as a stakeholder, here are a few ways in which I can help you-

1. Cover your story in the newsletter and a LinkedIn post. It’s completely FREE!

2. Help you with your long-form content- newsletters, blogs and articles

In case you’re wondering, that’s my tent- Dash

Thanks for reading today’s edition. If you have any thoughts or questions, feel free to write to me by replying to this email.

Have a great weekend and see you next week😊