Alternative Reuse and Upcycling Foundation

The Foundation strongly supports the UN Sustainable Development Goal 12 - Responsible Consumption and Production. We intend reaching out to women, men, youth, children and the community at large, to participate and change the way we use our resources, responsibly. Our focus is to promote a more effective way of handling and using waste and scrap; to imbibe in us, the concept of effective waste man

agement, up-cycling and reusing resources that would otherwise be discarded. As per official UN SDG reports, "the worldwide material consumption has expanded rapidly, as has material footprint per capita, seriously jeopardizing the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 12 and the associated goals more broadly. Urgent action is needed to ensure that current material needs do not lead to the over extraction of resources or to the degradation of environmental resources, and should include policies that improve resource efficiency, reduce waste and mainstream sustainability practices across all sectors of the economy." Therefore, the concept of responsible consumption, consciously discarding/segregating waste, reusing, reducing and upcycling should be the new norm; that we at Alternative Foundation are trying to achieve through our multiple initiatives. As per statistics, in India, over 62 million tonnes* of garbage (mixed waste containing recyclable and non-recyclable waste) is collected every year, with an annual growth rate of 4% (Source: PIB 2016). And 2.01 billion metric tonnes* of solid waste the world over, annually. The Word Bank in its report has stated that the annual global waste production will increase by a staggering 70% if the current scenario persists. Flawed waste management systems and lack of information and knowledge on how to manage waste at the local level, starting in our own homes or societies, contribute to this problem. It is therefore necessary that we adapt to more responsible ways of using resources and promote the concept of upcycling and alternative ways of using scrap (*as per World Bank reports)

Keeping in mind these objectives, the Foundation has launched its first two initiatives; ScrapLab and ReStore. ScrapLab is an extensive research-based initiative focusing on data collection on the availability of scrap, documenting its lifecycle and how it can be reused and upcycled while creating a virtual and physical scrap library for public consumption. ReStore focuses on in-house design and development of product prototypes made from scrap. Various types of scrap supplies and specially created upcycled craft kits can also be purchased at our online store. Funds generated from this initiative go towards training, creating livelihoods and helping artisans achieve economic independence, as they belong to less privileged backgrounds having no other stable source of income.