Purpose
ACT created Paper Wings, a brand to market all the products under this program, which provides consistent training and livelihood to women artisans so they can upskill themselves to make well-designed products for the global eco-conscious buyers, which is leading to economic and social empowerment of these rural women. Kaagaz Ke Pankh is ACT’s signature program, which adopts a social enterprise model to develop the skills of rural women on one hand and eco-friendly waste management on the other. The mission is to generate sustainable livelihoods by upcycling waste to resources. ACT sees its value-add in bringing professional inputs to the capacity building of women, product development, supply chain management, and marketing. Accordingly, all the products developed by the enterprise have the inputs of professional designers to ensure their durability and utility.
People
ACT has trained more than 300 women from five villages who are landless, low-income, and belong to the so-called lower castes. ACT has trained these women not only to manufacture the upcycled paper products but also to manage logistics of the supply chain, quality management, and marketing with the overall aim of empowering them for financial independence and self-sufficiency. ACT began this with just five women in one of the Harijan clusters of Bhandhwari village, Haryana, and two products. Nine years later, more than 300 trained women organized into 25 self-help groups (SHGs) have formed a federation being led by these women.
Planet
Every year planet earth generates over 2 billion tons of municipal waste, which is a global crisis threatening the environment, health, and safety, especially that of the poorest and the most vulnerable. It is significant to note that paper accounts for more than 25% of landfill waste and 35% of municipal waste in the world. Action Centre for Transformation (ACT), a Gurugram based civil society organization (CSO), is working since 2010 towards a sustainable solution to this crisis by promoting an environment-friendly social enterprise that uses the concept of ‘Upcycling’ to develop durable lifestyle products using waste paper. They also upcycle textile waste along with the paper. They use natural materials for weaving products. This reduces carbon footprint and contributes to a circular economy..
