Meet Mumbai's 'Plastic Man', Turning 20 Bottles Into A Hot Meal In His Fight Against Hunger And Waste
News18 · Parishmita Saikia ·
Twenty plastic bottles can buy a hot meal in Mumbai. Here's how one young man's initiative is turning waste into food, livelihoods and hope
Mumbai News: In a city where plastic waste often clogs drains and adds to the burden of urban pollution, one young man is finding an inspiring way to turn discarded bottles into something valuable – a piping hot meal. Through his initiative, Buy Food with Plastic, Mumbai-based social entrepreneur Shakti Yadav is tackling two persistent challenges at once: plastic pollution and hunger. The idea is simple. Residents bring 20 discarded plastic bottles and receive a hot, nutritious meal in return. But for Yadav, the initiative is about much more than feeding people or collecting waste. It is also about ensuring that those who need help do not have to give up their dignity to receive it.
According to a report in The Times of India, Yadav, now 27, grew up in Mumbai’s slums and developed a deep dislike for the monsoon season. During heavy rains, sewage water would spill onto the streets, forcing residents to walk through dirty, waste-filled water. Plastic bottles and other discarded material would choke drains, worsening the flooding and creating conditions that could contribute to diseases such as dengue and malaria. Those childhood experiences stayed with him. Rather than leaving his past behind after completing his education, Yadav decided to work towards improving the conditions in the community where he grew up. An MBA graduate and the first person in his family to pursue higher education, he could have chosen a conventional corporate career and moved away from the hardships he had witnessed. Instead, he made it his mission to address the problems that had affected his neighbourhood. (Instagram/@buyfoodwithplastic)
‘Buy Food With Plastic’ – 20 Bottles For One Hot Meal: Shakti Yadav founded the Buy Food with Plastic initiative with the aim of making plastic collection meaningful for local residents. Inspired by a similar programme overseas, he contacted its founder and found common ground in their shared interest in tackling environmental challenges. He began working on the initiative in 2020 while continuing his corporate job. Over time, however, the project became his priority, prompting him to leave his job and dedicate himself to it full-time. Under the model, residents in Bhandup, Mumbai, can exchange 20 plastic bottles for a freshly prepared meal. The exchange is deliberately designed to be more than an act of charity. Yadav believes that people should receive something in return for their effort, allowing them to contribute to their own meal while helping clean their surroundings. (Instagram/@buyfoodwithplastic)