SUBMITTED  BY  THE  SAGE  INDIA  TEAM

Our organisation is a business that strives to meet a triple

bottom line to ensure minimal negative impact on the

environment, the society and the economy.

18MINUSThe environmental problems in India are growing rapidly. The increasing economic development and an ever-growing population that has taken the country from 300 million people in 1947 to more than one billion people today, is putting a strain on the environment and the country’s natural resources.

18minus plans to address this extremely pressing issue in two ways - by direct involvement and by ripple involvement.

Directly, the operating model of 18minus is primarily internet based, and hence the need for paper communication - which would have unnecessary put a strain on the world’s limited forest resources - has been largely minimised, if not eliminated. As a result, our carbon footprint is extremely low. Moreover, the # 1 8 m i n u s G r e e n p r o d u c t s a r e e x t r e m e l y environmentally conscious innovations which contribute in a big way to protecting the earth’s

resources.

Our ripple effect involves the indirect implications of #18minusTalks and awareness drives where the citizens are empowered to bring about a change. They can actively help the government incumbents to build a better society

by taking part in cleaning drives, campaigning for rainwater harvesting and making sure that

polythene usage is banned in a certain residential area. In addition, as an individual, an empowered change maker can create a contagious vibe so that everyone abides by rules, and further acts as a ripple - spreading awareness to his children and family. Hence, as a citizen of the society they are also

responsible for the environment, which they have not inherited from the past, but borrowed from the future…

!!GREEN NOTEBOOKS!Given alongside is a photo of one of the notebooks made. It has a cover which is itself made of a newspaper. The 18minus logo, is written clearly in green ink for easy identification. All newspapers and books were collected from community drives.

NEWSPAPER BAGS!Eco-friendly paper bags made out of old newspapers will be

sold to residential colonies. Sanitary and other domestic

waste will be specially disposed using these paper bags, and as

they are marked with a red cross, it will help in waste

segregation.

Project #ClotheOurChildren

EXECUTION In this project, we aimed to provide low cost-environment friendly blankets to street children - with reflective tape stuck onto it to provide oncoming traffic a precautionary warning. Old clothes and plastic bags were collected from a community drive and stitched by local tailors, to create an insulating and water resistant blanket that could also be used a temporary tent or roof to provide shelter in the monsoon season. !IMPACT ✓ Reusing plastic bags not only

reduced land pollution but also prevented flooding due to clogging of drains.

✓ Much needed warmth and comfort was provided to street children.

✓ The reflective tape protected them from oncoming traffic and accidental deaths. Street children felt more confident, and we then gave them free vocational training for better employment opportunities.

#18minusGreen

The 18minus Effect Our #Green products not only have direct environmental consequences, but also address a wide variety of social issues.

In our notebooks, we push for primary education, indirectly p r o m o t i n g t h e fulfilment of MDG #2.

In our newspaper bags, not only do we increase the dignity of labour of the waste pickers - w h o a r e o f t e n children, we also make sure that none of them are in direct contact with any used sanitary waste - thus medically protecting them, a n d i n d i r e c t l y f u l f i l l i n g MDG#4.

18minus did indeed exploit the 4 Rs: REDUSE. REUSE. RECYCLE. REPURPOSE.