For a decade, this Chembur resident has been recycling waste creatively

With an aim to use the waste generated inside her house, 52-year-old Jayanti Premkumar started recycling waste materials 10 years back. Slowly and steadily, her hobby became a passion by not just restricting it to an individual level but spreading out the message in public at large.

Picking up any waste material Jayanti starts planning how she can recycle the material and make the best out of it. Speaking about her hobby turn passion to spread the message Jayanti said: "Every day, I come across many waste materials like coconut shells, dry fruit shells, plastic bottles, tins, wedding cards, etc. I start thinking about how they can be made useful in a creative way. Being a housewife, I started using my drawing and crafts techniques to create the best out of waste materials in my house during free time."

Jayanti has used various materials to make candle lamps, artificial flowers, flower pots to name a few. To spread the message of recycling and reusing, she started teaching same techniques to different target groups.

Talking about her classes and the aim of the initiative, Jayanti said: "I organise workshops in different schools and colleges. Along with Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) students I get a chance to teach Thane jail prisoners too. Many of the prisoners are interested in learning. Through this workshop, it helps me to encourage students and other people to spread awareness about recycling our own waste rather than throwing it in dustbins. In this initiative, people need to spend some time rather than spending money to innovate their own creation."

Jayanti also take away branches of trees trimmed on the road to make showpieces. "Most of the times I ask people to get their own waste material so that by the end of the workshop they can take home their own creations."