This Mrs India Finalist Is Also a Green Warrior – Recycling Waste Into Baskets, Bird Feeders & More!

Classic Mrs India 2017 winner, Kalpana Thakur, may not have won the coveted ‘Mrs India’ crown, but she certainly won hearts.

Kalpana has been recycling hotel disposable waste and reusing it to make paper baskets, lamps, flowers pots, bird feeding stations and even jewellery.

The 43-year-old is a hotelier and owns a picturesque tourist resort called The Byke Neelkanth in Prini village, Himachal Pradesh. At her hotel, she utilises cooking oil for igniting lamps, discarded paper napkins, egg traps and packaging material to make ornaments and fruit baskets. In addition to this, she uses plastic bottles of aerated beverages to make flower pots, pen stands and bird feeding stations.

Speaking to IANS, she said, “This initiative, though small, is proving to be a grand success and helps in motivating my guests to learn the art of reusing household waste sensibly, and that too in a greener way.”

She believes the art of recycling is a big boost to the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan and will be effective in saving the environment for the future generations.

Read more: This Bangalore-Based Construction Company Is Setting a Standard in Waste Management at Tech Parks

Originally hailing from a remote village in Lahaul Valley in Lahaul-Spiti district, Kalpana spent her initial years as a ‘waste warrior’ in Manali. She would collect plastic waste, Tetra Paks and tins dumped haphazardly in the markets and tourist spots.

“Initially, I used to collect them and dump them appropriately. Later, I started using them in making decoration pieces. I learnt this art of reuse via videos on YouTube,” she said.

She is exhibiting the recycled products and selling them at the Red Cross exhibitions. The profit earned from the exhibitions and the sale proceed will go to charities that support social cause, she shared.

A mother of two, the boss woman shares that half of the decoration pieces used in her hotel are made from reusable products. “For my guests at the hotel, I am holding classes free of cost and educating them about how to recycle household items. My basic purpose is to develop their habit of reusing household waste,” she said. Kalpana firmly believes that her family is the motivating spirit behind encouraging her ‘greener’ side.

Connect to Kalpana Thakur here.

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