Delhi has approximately one lakh waste-pickers, and a large number of these are women. Despite their massive economic and environmental contribution (they collect, sort, and recycle), waste pickers struggle to lead healthy and productive lives because of hazardous working conditions, discrimination and negative societal perception, poor access to education, and insufficient vocational skills.

Transform waste-pickers into artisans. Change lives by creating eco-friendly products using discarded flowers. The Gulmeher initiative, which is a women-led social enterprise, was born out of a  desire to improve the livelihoods and quality of life of the 350 waste-picker households in the slum,  focused on initiating alternative income generation. Given the background of the community in  handling waste, the focus was on creating a platform  for waste-pickers to generate income using local resources. The project design was also influenced by  preference of the waste pickers to be close to their dwellings to address various safety concerns. Gulmeher had to overcome significant challenges including mobilization, training the women, quality  issues and finding a market for various products.