Changemaker: Integrating waste segregation in daily life

Divya Dhingra initiated a waste segregation campaign in Gurugram, engaging residents to reduce landfill waste and promote responsible consumption.

Thirty-five-year-old Divya Dhingra, on her move from Mumbai to Gurugram in 2022, brought along with her the practice of waste segregation, which was large ignored in the Millennium City, she said. She spearheaded a campaign to set up a community recycling module, which has currently extended to her entire neighbourhood, to lessen the increasing burden on landfill sites.

Divya Dhingra (Parveen Kumar/HT)

A resident of Tulip Violet, Sector 69, Dhingra says that personal accountability can transform a city’s image. “In Mumbai, every resident took responsibility for segregating waste. When I noticed that this was largely missing in Gurugram, I could have blamed the system or officials—but I chose to take action instead,” she said.

In October 2023, Dhingra and three other residents first approached an NGO, One Step Greener, to seek support for transporting the segregated waste from their condominium to material recovery facilities. However, the main challenge was getting residents to participate, she said.

While the initial response was lukewarm, the group’s persistent efforts eventually garnered the support of over 20 residents. “Initially, we conducted these drives once a month. But we soon realised that residents were hesitant to store waste at home for an entire month, which was understandable. As more people saw our efforts and joined in, we were able to shift the drives to a fortnightly schedule,” she said.

Gradually, she was approached by residents of neighbouring communities to join in the initiative. Currently, the initiative is supported by a team of volunteers and they help in locally processing around 15,000kg of compostable waste.

“We now have around 400 residents participating, and the NGO does not charge us. Every Thursday, I send a message on our WhatsApp group asking for pick-ups from flats. For residents with smaller amounts of waste, we have set up dedicated dustbins across all 24 towers of our society,” she said.

In the longer term, Dhingra aims to reduce plastic use at the household level. “Changing habits is never easy, but it is crucial for a city like Gurugram, where unmanaged waste is a visible problem on streets and in public spaces. Waste segregation is just the first step—we also need to rethink our daily consumption, minimise single-use plastics, and take responsibility for the impact of our actions on the environment.”