Meet the Doctor Who Helped Her Entire Colony Go Zero-Waste in Delhi
Every morning in Navjivan Vihar, South Delhi, 280 families start their day like most of us — making tea, packing lunchboxes, and getting ready for work or school. But there’s one small thing they all do that makes their colony very different: they separate their waste into three bins — wet, dry, and hazardous.
It sounds like a tiny habit. But over time, it has made a huge difference.
For the past six years, not even one bag of garbage from this colony has gone to a landfill.
The story goes back eight years, when Dr Ruby Makhija, who lives here and is a doctor, became the RWA secretary.
“As a doctor, I’ve seen how bad sanitation can make people sick. When I got this role, I finally had a chance to change things in my own neighbourhood,” she says.
The first thing she worked on was getting everyone to segregate their waste properly.
She and her team went door to door, talking to people, answering questions, and clearing doubts. Some people were worried about bad smells. Some thought it was too much work. Even the waste workers said, “This isn’t our job.”
But Dr Ruby didn’t give up. She sent daily updates, made short videos, and kept sharing information to explain why this was important.
Slowly, things began to change.
Today, 125 kg of kitchen waste gets composted every single day and is used to make the gardens greener. Dry waste like plastic, paper and glass goes to recyclers. Clothes, furniture, and even gas cylinders are donated through their Triple R Centre, and over 30 tonnes of these items have been reused through NGOs.
Daily segregation turns 125 kg of kitchen waste into compost for the colony’s gardens.
But that’s not all. The colony also saves water by using rainwater harvesting and aerators on taps. They even have a community fridge where people can leave extra food for anyone who needs it.
The numbers are amazing:
- 17 tonnes of plastic recycled
- 3,000 kg of e-waste diverted
- 30+ tonnes of items donated and reused
- And six years of zero garbage reaching landfills
If you visit the colony today, you’ll see green gardens, clean streets, and a peaceful vibe. You won’t see the hard work that goes on behind the scenes. But for Dr Ruby and the residents, this has become a normal part of life — a small habit that completely changed their colony’s future.
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