T.R.A.De. (Transforming Recycling Awareness in Delhi) is an initiative which aims to reduce plastic pollution through a unique bartering system that involves the exchange of single-use plastics for sustainable products. The single-use plastics we collect are sent to a recycling facility.
One of the most significant reasons that single-use plastics are in such wide circulation in India is because sustainable alternatives and even reusable plastics are unaffordable to members of low-income communities. Because of this, TRADe aims to take a bottom-up approach through two streams:
Partnerships with NGO schools whose students collect and deposit single-use plastics they find in exchange for reusable alternatives provided by the project, including sustainable tote bags
A curriculum conducted in workshops with low-income communities which focuses on plastics and their adverse effect on the environment
