Meet the people turning cigarette butts, diapers, and more into toys

In a bid to make eco-friendly toys popular, several individuals such as Subid KS and organisations like Superbottoms, Oh Scrap! Madras, and Code Effort and recycling cigarette butts, old diapers, and everyday household waste into toys for children

Cigarette butts have no place in a nursery. The Vipul brothers disagree. They have been making toys from trashed cigarette butts under Code Effort since 2018. Kickstarted by Naman Gupta and his elder brother Vipul, the Uttar Pradesh-based enterprise recycles cigarette butts into fluffy soft toys, stationery, home decor, etc. “The tobacco is decomposed using 100% natural microorganisms and converted into compost powder. Our composting is aerobic, unlike traditional anaerobic processes to ensure that the leachate doesn’t harm the soil and groundwater,” says Naman, adding that the recycled fibre goes on to be used as filling for their toys, and other products that are crafted by local artisans at their Noida factory.

Anybody can volunteer and send/donate cigarette butts for recycling. “We engage with over 2,000 rag-pickers across India to collect cigarette butts, and we have created a business model (Code Associations) wherein the associates (current network of over 250 districts in India) get money for their supplies.” The toys are exclusively on order for individuals and corporates, says Naman, who is now developing recycled paper products such as stationery, packaging, and more from recycled cigarette waste paper. 

DIY experts

A cycle valve crafted using matchsticks, a jet car from a plastic bottle, a yo-yo from CDs, a ‘magic’ fan from paper… video tutorials to make over 8,500 such toys from discarded material are the trademark of scientist Arvind Gupta’s YouTube Channel.

Having worked for 11 years at the Children’s Science Center at IUCAA (Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics) in Pune, the Padma Shri awardee says the idea to craft, and most importantly teach children how to make their own toys, came from the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Programme in the mid-1970s that he was a part of. “The idea was to make science fun for village children, and using discarded materialwas the first step.”

He established Arvind Toys in 2004, where he experimented with countless discarded materials such as plastic bottles, newspapers, cartons, , etc, all sourced from homes in Pune. “We do 100 experiments with old plastic bottles, make 20 caps using old newspapers, and over 40 toys using cartons,” says Arvind, who retired eight years ago and now translates books for children in Hindi.

Subid KS of Ahimsa Toys, who briefly worked with Arvind in 2011, says how the learningfrom Arvind have remained with him since. “ A use and throw culture is common now and the market is dominated by violent toys. Ahimsa Toys comes with the powerful message of ‘reuse and repair’.”