3 Ways To Control- Single Use Plastic by 2022

Controlling The Monster

Items for which there are available sustainable alternatives make them accessible. eg plastic straws can be easily replaced by paper or steel

Items for which alternatives do not exist , for these items the objective is to limit their damage by better educating the consumer and making the producer financially responsible of the consequences on the environment.

Items which are already well captured , the objective is to make sure that they land in either existing or forthcoming recycling bins

What are the single use products that are to be phased out by 2022

• food containers
• cups for beverages
• cotton bud sticks
• cutlery, plates, stirrer, straws
• sticks for balloons, balloons
• packets and wrappers
• beverage containers, their caps and lids – beverage bottles
• tobacco product filters
• sanitary items – wet wipes, sanitary towels
• lightweight plastic carry bags

Banning has not ever worked – in any country

How do we prepare the people and how do we help the industry to phase out these products in a smooth manner?

A multi prong strategy – starting now !

1. Consumption reduction
2. Market restriction
3. Product design requirement
4. Marking requirement
5. Extended producer responsibility or application of  polluter pay principle
6. Separate collection objective
7. Awareness raising measures

 

From Social Enterprise to Social Franchise

The social enterprise sector is growing rapidly . People are realizing its importance to take action on issues related to food ( has resulted in the rise of organic food industry), financial services, health services etc. Some of the matured social enterprises have started experimenting new ways on how quickly they can reach new beneficiaries , achieve larger impact and leverage efficiencies of scale without having to reinvent the wheel.

SCALE UP OR SCALE OUT

Turning everyday workings of a social enterprise into a systematic cooperation that can be easily replicated elsewhere can be tricky. Finding partners who are aligned to your values is challenging. We too are grappling with these issues. What kind of license do we grant, what training and support should we provide , and issues of branding and intellectual property.

CASE STUDY OF CONSERVE HRP

Conserve HRP grew rapidly in the last 12 years.. we made upcycled products and managed to get big and mainstream clients like @urbanoutfitters, @habitate , @adolfoDominique etc. We were also fully entrenched in the fair trade world. We went through several audits and were scaling up continually. But a watershed moment came and we realized as a social enterprise we would be making larger social impact if we scaled out rather than scaled up.

What do you think is the futrure of social enterprise? Scaling UP or Scaling OUT.

Setting Up And Training In A Grassroot Workshop

Some pointers based on my experience with working with rural and urban community members

 

The key purpose of the training program is always, “how do we enable increased access to livelihood opportunities for the community.” Mapping and exploring their  outside environment, and their inner fears and insecurities. Understanding their skills and available resources as  a group is key to a successful setting up and running of a social enterprise.

objectives of the training are:

• Developing mechanisms to identify problems, gaps , needs or challenges in their environment and to come up with practical solutions.
• Identifying and articulating their individual skills, knowledge, passion, talent – whatever they can bring to the table
• Ideas to put all available resources, land, capital and time to productive use of earning an increased income and reduce unemployment
• Be able to initiate AND run a sustainable social enterprise. Take responsibility and ownership.
  

  Inspirational quote – Bill Drayton , Ashoka

  Social entrepreneurs are not content just to give fish or teach you how to fish. they will not rest until they have changed the fishing industry