With increasing population and urbanisation, environment has become a major concern with its condition degrading at a rapid pace. People’s irresponsible acts towards environment has resulted in the Mother Earth’s sufferings. Cities around the world produce approximately 3.6 million tonnes of waste in a day and it is projected that the figure will shoot up to 6 million tonnes a day by 2025. In this rapidly progressing world, the amount and speed of e-waste produced and natural resources consumed are alarming. However, some entrepreneurs are coming up with innovative ideas to protect our planet.

Listed below are 5 companies that are working towards keeping the planet green:

1. Khalibottle, a Bengaluru-based startup, is also on a spree of converting trash to cash. The startup has created an online platform where customers – individuals or corporates – can register for their waste to be collected for recycling and get paid for it as well. The trash is collected, segregated, and packed according to predefined categories such as soft plastic, pet bottles, glass, cardboard materials, and metal. The stock is then sent to authorised recycling plants around Bengaluru, Mysuru and Hyderabad for recycling.

2. Bengaluru-based Farmizen enables an individual to grow chemical-free organic food in a mini-farm. By paying just Rs 2,500 as a monthly subscription fee that includes the monthly rent to the farmers, individuals can grow vegetables of their choice as per the season in the twelve beds allocated to them in their mini farm. They get to control the farm through an app just like Farmville and can visit the farm anytime and harvest their own produce.

3. MYSUN, a Noida-based startup with an innovative technology backed rooftop solar solutions and services company. It caters to energy consumers across residential, commercial, industrial and institutional buildings. Offering a pioneering customer experience and redefining the way solar energy systems are bought and sold in India, MYSUN utilizes the latest technology to assure high quality performing solar systems. Also, offering MYSUN Flexi-PayTM is a unique financial offering that gives customers the convenience to choose their own payment plan when booking a Solar System.

4. Delhi-based Doodlage upcycles and recycles clothes to produce fashionable outfits for those in the age group of 18 and 45 years. The waste collected at Doodlage during the process of upcycling is used to make home furnishings and bags. Kolkata-based fashion designer Paromita Banerjee insists on not seeing recycling as ‘jugaad’. She mixes discarded materials with Khadi and colours to develop new clothes, the composition of each being different.

5. Chennai-based PKR Green and Consultants home deliver various air-purifying plants, including Golden Pothos (money plant) that removes airborne pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide and xylene; English ivy, which removes pollutants such as benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene from the air; and Areca palm, which filters xylene and toluene from the air. The startup’s primary goal is to ensure there are more plants in homes, offices, complexes, malls, and study centres.