Copyright © 2026 Authors retain the copyright of this article. This article is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

@article{188737,
        author = {Sharanya Singh},
        title = {Helpful ReUse: A Community-Based Initiative to Reduce Cosmetic and Medicine Waste While Supporting Underprivileged Communities},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2025},
        volume = {12},
        number = {7},
        pages = {3548-3560},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=188737},
        abstract = {As an IB student, I have been frequently exposed to critical global issues such as environmental conservation, sustainability, and social equity. At the same time, through my personal social initiative “Inkva Project”—an English reading program for underprivileged kids—I discovered how deeply fulfilling it is to support vulnerable members of my community.
During and after the COVID-19 pandemic, I observed two interconnected problems around me: first, the improper disposal of medicines and cosmetics; second, the difficulty faced by urban poor families in accessing basic medicines and personal care products because of high costs. I also noticed stray animals consuming discarded medicines and cosmetic containers from trash bins, and learned from an NGO that many children did not have access to essential medicines and cosmetics at all.},
        keywords = {Medicine waste, cosmetics waste, urban poor, Scope 3 emissions, carbon footprint, Excel tools, donation drives, sustainability, NGO collaboration, IB personal project},
        month = {December},
        }