The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in New Delhi has been awarded a Certificate of Tree Plantation for 2013 and another Certificate of Appreciation for 2014 by Green-O-Tech, in appreciation of its contribution towards making our environment more sustainable.

The ICRC New Delhi is consciously making efforts to strengthen Green causes, especially by donating waste paper to be re-cycled. In 2014 for instance, it donated 262 kg of waste paper for this purpose.

This initiative began in 2013 when the ICRC decided to start recycling waste-paper and began working with Green-O-Tech India as part of its unique initiative. During the first year of this collaboration, the ICRC delegation in Delhi donated as much as 1,100 kg of waste paper for re-cycling.

According to Suresh Gadroo, who is in charge of the delegation’s premises, the office of the ICRC “…was being relocated and there was a lot of waste paper waiting to be discarded. It was at that time that our Administrator found the NGO and we began collaborating with them.”

The recycling process includes all waste paper, cardboards etc. which are then converted into eco-friendly stationery such as notepads, paper bags and envelopes. For every 100 kg of waste paper, the recycler is required to provide one sapling for planting and this has made it possible for the organisation to plant 11 trees in 2013 and three in 2014. The ICRC is being supported by WIPRO in its on-going quest to take care of these saplings on a daily basis. “These are all fruit trees—guava and pomegranate—and these saplings will grow into fully matured trees that will start bearing fruit and benefit mankind a few years from now,” Gadroo further added.