A tea seller turned eco-warrior? Meet Kanaram Mewara, 35, from Bisalpur, Rajasthan, who is rewriting sustainability rules by turning plastic waste into durable furniture.
One morning, while brewing tea, Kanaram read a newspaper report: India produces 3.5 million metric tonnes of plastic waste annually, most of it destined to linger for centuries. The scale shocked him. He realised change had to start in his own village.
Serving chai near Jawai’s leopard forests, he saw it everywhere — tourists leaving plastic behind, wrappers scattered along paths, and even the things he sold in his shop came in plastic covers. “These cannot be changed, no matter how much I try. But what I could do was not let this waste pollute our environment,” he said.
Disturbed by the environmental impact, he resolved to make his village plastic-free. Kanaram began collecting a few kilograms of plastic, mostly from his shop and nearby roads. Whenever a customer came, he explained the initiative. Slowly, more people joined.
Soon, Dilip Kumar Jain from a Mumbai-based NGO extended support. Together, they organised awareness drives in schools and rallied the community to collect waste from roadsides and homes.
To encourage participation, Kanaram put up a board outside his tea shop: “Bring Plastic, Save the Environment, Get a Reward.” This simple idea caught attention and made villagers curious.
Soon, inspired by the board, children and villagers began bringing plastic waste. Visitors swapped plastic for saplings or snacks. Slowly, public spaces, rivers, and forests began to shine clean again — proof that small acts create big impact.
Kanaram collected an average of 50 kg of plastic every month, sending it to a recycling company in a nearby city for processing. But he dreamt bigger.
With help from the DJED Foundation, he got a Rs 10 lakh recycling machine. His mission? To transform the waste, not just collect it. Today, his unit melts plastic into benches, dustbins, tree guards, and durable furniture.
His impact is massive: ten tonnes of plastic recycled. He now has government orders, including benches for Jawai Dam railway station. What began as a small idea is now a village-wide movement.
Recognition followed. Environmentalists and conservationists lauded his work. Neighbouring villages were inspired, and today, fifteen villages are working towards a plastic-free future.
Kanaram Mewara’s small idea proved that one person can spark big change. “We can all be torchbearers for a better tomorrow — sometimes, all it takes is the first step.”