Giving Compass' Take:

• Social entrepreneur, Rohit Nayak, started EcoAd, which offers upcycled alternatives to plastic bags made out of newspaper and other paper scrap, and in the process creates sustainable employment opportunities for women in underprivileged communities in India.

• How can programs like this be implemented in other developing countries? How can donors support?

• Here are some tips from social entrepreneurs on making an impact. 

Upon seeing children in urban slums playing amidst a heap of plastic garbage, social entrepreneur Rohit Nayak made it his mission to create sustainable alternatives to plastic bags, and empower disadvantaged communities to be active champions combating India’s waste management crisis.

While India’s consumption of plastic equals only half of the global average, the country grapples with some of the world’s worst levels of waste mismanagement. Much of the country’s recycling sector is informal and unregulated, operating without government oversight. Every day, India generates 33.1 million pounds of plastic waste of which only 19.8 million pounds are collected and recycled, leaving the rest to contaminate waterways, clog drains, poison animals and cause soil degradation.

Read the full article on fighting India's plastic crisis by Trang Chu Minh at CauseArtist.