Changing trash to cash: Bihar’s Gaurav makes best of city’s waste

Ludhiana: For Gaurav Singh, the best way to spend time is by making the best of the waste lying around in the city. He gives a new life to the items otherwise discarded by city residents, and an added bonus is saving the environment.
32-year-old Gaurav hails from Bihar and has been in the city for almost 15 years now. He collects plastic waste, discarded wooden logs, old newspapers, clothes, books and cardboards, and put them to use.
He dreams of opening a school for underprivileged kids, especially the slum dwellers who can’t afford to go to school.
At the exhibition of self help groups (SHGs) organised by the municipal corporation at Nehru Rose Garden, Gaurav had put up some goods he created from waste material.
Talking to TOI about his journey, Gaurav said, “When demonetisation happened, something very bad happened to me and I went into shock. At that time, I though of doing something with waste material. I then started collecting waste from everywhere.”
He informed most the waste they collect is plastic waste, while other things are also collected.
Gaurav runs an NGO ‘Switch for Change Foundation’ and says he doesn’t ask people for money, and instead ask them to donate their waste. Gaurav says, “My only aim is to educate poor children. I have already rescued some 48 such kids who were being forced to beg at railway station or bus stand.” The NGO earns revenue by selling items created from waste, and he wants to use this money to open his dream school.
When he first started, it was difficult to collect waste. He used to collect wooden logs from where the electricity department used to axe trees, and then convert them into artefacts. He adds, “We also paint tyres and use them for seating. There are lamps created from old bottles and wooden logs, too.”
Amandeep Kaur is the co-founder of the NGO and was present at the stall here.
She said, “We have a group of ladies working with us who stitch cloth bags from waste clothes and then sell these bags for their livelihood.”
The two-day-long exhibition organised under Deen Dayal Antyodaya Yojana-National Urban Livelihoods Mission concluded Sunday at Nehru Rose Garden.