Every day, tens of thousands of plastic bags are thrown out in the Indian capital, New Delhi. They are moved from waste dump to waste dump, only to end up in an even bigger dump.
Along the way, New Delhi's two million scavengers, or 'rag pickers', pick among the rubbish to find bags, cardboard, paper, plastic - anything and everything that can be recycled, so that they can earn enough in a day to feed their families. The rag pickers are a part of society which has long been ignored . . . until Anita Ahuja came along.
A political writer for many years, when Ms Ahuja received threats to her family because she was writing about a certain politician, she gave it up. She was tired of writing and wanted a new challenge. Just under five years ago, she created a non-governmental organisation called Conserve.
'I began with recycling kitchen waste. But then I started to look at the thousands of plastic bags that are thrown away in New Delhi every day and I began to co-operate with the rag pickers. These are people who have to live on a dollar a day and are ignored in India.'
Ms Ahuja's husband came up with a scientific method to blend the plastic bags picked and washed by the rag pickers and other workers.
The bags are then sewn into high-end handbags which are sold around Europe and will be soon sold in hundreds of shops in China, but unfortunately not in Hong Kong.
