TNT India, a fast growing express distribution company is running a campaign to recycle used cards. The campaign which was launched some three years back is today associated with a number of NGOs who are using these cards very innovatively either to make new cards or as educational tools.

`Reuse & Recycle-For a Better World,' the campaign which collected some 3,000-4,000 cards in its first year expects to collect at least 25,0000-30,000 cards this year. How was the campaign thought about? Says Mr Ajay Kaul, head of Sales and Marketing, TNT India: "The inspiration really came from the Spastics Society of Karnataka, where children were making cards out of used ones or the teachers were simply using them as educational tools. It was then that we at TNT felt that there are so many cards that since each of us sends and receives every year, why not put them to a good use rather than just throwing them away." The campaign, he adds, is an initiative to redirect the excess paper generated during the festival season into a more worthy cause while soliciting community participation.

The NGOs who will benefit from this year's campaign include Ashadeep in Bangalore, a home for education and rehabilitation for street children and ragpickers; Akshalayam, a pre-school educational institute for challenged children, again in Bangalore; Save The Children, an organisation that works to provide education to slum children in Mumbai; Society for Development Alternative in Delhi, working in the field of environment, and The Spastics Society of Tamil Nadu in Chennai. These NGOs will use the cards for varied purposes-as educational aids for children, colourful and thematic collages for their welfare centres as well as in making new cards on recycled paper.

Another advantage that the company has is its reach, which it uses to collect as well as deliver these used cards. Says Mr Kaul: "We will leverage the tremendous reach and expertise that TNT has in express distribution to make the campaign a success."

Endorsing the campaign, Mr Ashok Khosla, president of Development Alternatives, a leading NGO says: "This is an exemplary and innovative campaign launched by TNT India to protect and encourage public participation in helping conserve the environment. I hope more and more corporates follow this example and endorse the use of waste material in a way which is useful for society."

(For further information on the campaign, one can contact 6531181/82/83/ 85 in Delhi; 8329090/ 8399000 in Mumbai, or 2292221/22/24/25/26 in Bangalore.)