Jain’s ‘recycle bin’

17-year-old Rishit Jain is not your average boy next door. While most of his school friends were busy dealing with their studies, assignments and tests, Rishit was already working on organising an initiative that aims to preserve the environment, and this was when he was 14! Three years later, this initiative he founded is successfully handling a difficult environmental problem, and Rishit now has a lot of other teen-agers working actively on it from eight states across India.

What started simply as a school project in 2016 is now a fully developed initiative called REUSE Orbis, and is making ripples across the country. “I wanted to take up the oft-ignored crisis of e-waste for my project. The way it began was by printing the word ‘REUSE’ in capitals on a green sheet of paper, and sticking it onto my T-shirt as I roamed around in local markets with a cardboard box in which I would keep the e-waste given to me,” recalls Rishit. Roaming around the corridors of markets, he would approach shopkeepers, working men and women and also young teenagers, with a minute-long pitch about how they can contribute in their own way to save the world. From a single boy in one city in the corner of Haryana with a paper stuck to his T-shirt, REUSE expanded by roping in other passionate youngsters who would spread the word in their localities.

As a student, Rishit has always been passionate about economics and policymaking. He believes that even though economics is usually seen divided between greed and good when it comes to e-waste, it represents a fascinating, yet untapped area where greed and good converge. “Resolving an issue like that of e-waste, and modeling businesses in a manner that ties this string of greed and good into one joint circle is what social entrepreneurship essentially is, which is much like a captivating puzzle of incentives for the economist in me,” he explains.

Ironically, Rishit’s biggest inspiration in life is the god of technology — Steve Jobs. “While undoubtedly today Apple is the ultimate icon of consumerism and materialistic desire, what has inspired me about Steve Jobs is his ability to convert passion into action. His fiery character was fuelled by his unwavering vision of what he thinks the world ought to look like,” says Rishit. Steve’s hunger for change is what inspired Rishit on this incredible journey at such a young age.

Rishit’s interest in playing tennis and drama consumes the rest of his time. Speaking of how he manages to maintain his hobbies alongside his education and organisation, he says, “Even if you have a long list of deadlines waiting for you back home, on the court, you can forget it all, leaving behind just you, your racket and the ball. Refreshing my mind, I go back home far more satisfied with my day and ready to get back on the grind.”

Being one of the youngest entrepreneurs out there, Rishit believes that the journey of REUSE Orbis’ growth has empowered him immensely. He beams at the fact that his identity today is more than just a 17-year old boy. He is the founder of a noble organisation. “I know this sounds cliche, but in India, there's almost a tangible barrier where you see the youth often not being taken seriously despite the wonderful work that has come out of this demographic. REUSE has helped me overcome this.”  Rishit recently completed his schooling from the International Baccalaureate and is all set to pursue B.A. Hons. in Economics at the University of Cambridge.