Puja Dallakoti is a resident of Gajuri Rural Municipality of Nepal. Her journey with CREASION began with her involvement in Project CAP, a program aimed at addressing plastic pollution through education, advocacy, and hands-on action. 

 What if waste could be transformed into something more meaningful? What if plastic waste, one of the world’s biggest environmental challenges, could be the key to creating jobs, changing lives, and even sparking an economic revolution in a small town in Nepal? 

 Puja was haunted by all these questions for quite a while. The Youth Cohort program of Project CAP was an exciting opportunity for her to delve into these dilemmas of her and come up with a better solution. As part of a cohort of young leaders, Puja was provided funding to carry out river clean-ups, host awareness programs, and engage local communities in meaningful conversations about waste management. The program empowered Puja with the knowledge and tools to lead her community in efforts to combat pollution, and she wasted no time organizing impactful events, such as river clean-ups in plastic hotspots around Gajuri. 

 Her curiosity and dedication to find a better solution of plastic waste management, were spark of a life changing decision of her life. She was always in search of an innovative and practical solutions.  In a community where plastic waste seemed to drown the rivers and litter the streets as a huge problem for community people, Puja saw an opportunity in it.  

 While the clean-ups were effective in raising awareness, Puja soon realized that cleaning up the mess wasn’t enough. The real challenge lay in the endless supply of plastic waste that continued to flood the streets and rivers. That’s when Puja had a breakthrough: What if the plastic waste could be turned into a resource, something of value that could benefit her community? 

 What is this problem can be turned into something that could benefit her community, protect the environment, and provide economic opportunities for local youth.

Determined to take action, Puja founded her own business—Puja Rupantaran Samagri Collection and Suppliers—dedicated to collecting, recycling, and reselling plastic waste at Ichchhakamana. She forged partnerships with local hotels that were inadvertently contributing to the plastic problem by burning PET bottles due to a lack of proper disposal options. Puja stepped in with a sustainable solution: she would purchase the PET bottles from the hotels and send them to recycling centers. In doing so, she not only provided an environmentally friendly alternative for local businesses but also launched a revenue-generating business model that turned plastic waste into profit. 

 Since starting her business, Puja has targeted to collect over 12 Metric Tons of plastic waste on a monthly basis, diverting them from the landfills and rivers and sending them to recycling centers where they can be repurposed into new products. Through her entrepreneurial efforts, Puja is showing Ichchhakamana that plastic waste doesn’t have to be a burden—it can be a source of economic growth and environmental change. 

As her business continues to grow, Puja has created 5 new jobs for local youth, offering them the opportunity to work in the recycling sector and become part of the solution to the plastic crisis. Through her efforts, she is also strengthening local networks of vendors, all working together to build a more sustainable future. "This is just the beginning," she says, her voice full of hope and determination. “Together, we can turn plastic waste into something valuable, something that benefits everyone.” 

By addressing the plastic problem with both a creative solution and a business mindset, Puja is demonstrating that tackling environmental issues can also be a powerful driver of economic change. Through her work, she is not just cleaning up the environment—she’s sparking a shift in how people think about waste and showing that entrepreneurship can be the key to building a more sustainable and prosperous future for all. 

Puja’s story is a living example of the power of one person’s vision to change a community. She’s proving that by transforming plastic waste into possibility, she’s not just improving Ichchhakamana’s environment—she’s inspiring others to see potential where they once saw only problems. And with every bottle collected and every new partnership formed, Puja is writing a new chapter in the story of how small actions can lead to big changes.