Nappy Use in Delhi? A story of change and design from The Design Village India

In February 2026, The Design Village (TDV) (https://www.thedesignvillage.org/) , a non-profit university with campuses in India and Italy partnered with The Big Toilet Project to explore how nappy use by people from across socio-economic groups in Delhi, is changing, and how the waste this generates is managed in India’s capital city. Twelve students from TDV, an institution focussed on sustainability in creative education, social impact and global engagement, are currently developing diverse portfolios of work around the topic. We are excited to unveil the results in June, when they report on their findings on child toilet training and waste disposal practices in an urban Indian cultural context.

Here are the 12 projects currently in progress:

1. KRITI ARORA : Redesigning the urban cultural concealment system of diaper waste by disrupting hidden disposal practices to make diaper waste visible, reducing health risks for sanitation workers  
2. UDANTIKA DUTTA : Designing a disposal interface or system for discarding diaper waste to reduce environmental impact. 
3. AADHYA GUPTA : Design to make the impact of diaper  waste visible for primary caregivers at the moment of disposal to change the gap between intention and action . 
4. GARIMA SHARMA : The project translates unstructured diaper handling into a product- led solution that enables guided , hygienic , and controlled temporary containment within the home environment. 
5. TANISH JOSHI : Designing for the gap between disposal and collection by preventing animal access to exposed sanitary waste, thereby reducing contamination and preserving for segregation and recycling. 
6. DIYA BAHRI : To integrate identification solutions to improve and reduce plastics of the diaper wrapping behaviour of the caregivers , so it improves the segregation process and protects the waste handlers.  
7. CHAHAT GROVER : Designing a mechanism to reduce mixed waste and worker exposure by enabling a safer waste disposal from household to landfill. 
8. PARIDHI GUPTA : To design a system that translates the difference between biodegradable and compostable diapers into clear disposal actions at the point of use, leading to improved waste segregation and reducing contamination of waste streams.
9. SAMIKSHA SINGH : Design an intervention that integrates diaper waste into existing segregation habits in certain precincts to improve its disposal within the current waste system. 
10. MUSKAN YADAV : Designing interventions for awareness of cultural practices, thereby creating a deeper understanding in people, which may eventually help in reducing plastic waste.  
11. SAUMYA SINGH : Reduce plastic waste from diapers by understanding and redesigning the socio-cultural practice of using multiple plastic bags for disposal so that families can safely contain smell, leakage and shame without adding extra plastic layers.  
12. HIMANI AGARWAL : To improve the immediate segregation of used diapers at the point of disposal by enabling proper wrapping, separate binning and hygienic practices within urban households.