Like the bougainvillea that blooms in every colour from the most paper-thin of petals, we turn every old notebook into new life.
"The world is beautiful — and every book that finds a second life makes it a little more so."
Kaakitha Pookal — Tamil for "Paper Flowers" — is a student-led green initiative at Yellow Train School, Coimbatore. Like the bougainvillea, we believe that something as ordinary as a used notebook can transform into something beautiful and purposeful.
The project was founded by the Class 12 batch of 2025–26, who successfully diverted hundreds of notebooks from landfills — either donating them to underprivileged students or recycling them into new paper products.
Now, the Class 7 – Akanshak team is carrying the torch into its next chapter — with new workshops, digital tracking, and a textbook programme that reaches rural STEM classrooms.
Donating your old books takes less than five minutes to register — and the impact lasts far longer.
Create a free account and tell us what you'd like to donate — notebooks, textbooks, or both. Your details are kept safe and only shared with the project team.
Bring your books to one of the Pookal Collection Points set up across the Yellow Train School campus. We'll take care of sorting and routing from there.
Your donation updates the live counter on this page. Watch the trees saved grow in real time — every single book counts toward that number.
Partially used, lightly worn, or fully completed — each book finds the most meaningful path forward.
Partially or fully used notebooks from any subject. Usable ones go to underprivileged students; the rest are recycled into fresh paper products. Nothing is wasted.
Old textbooks are donated to rural community science labs via our partner TecPlore, giving students access to quality science resources.
A portion of collected pulp is transformed into plantable seed-paper bookmarks in our special workshop. Your old notes literally grow into flowers — as the bougainvillea always knew they could.
The bougainvillea's papery bracts inspired our name. Here is what your paper donation means for real trees in the world.
Trees already saved by Kaakitha Pookal:
Building on the Class 12 foundation with three new branches for a richer, wider-reaching initiative.
Collected pulp is transformed into plantable seed-paper bookmarks. Your old exam notes literally bloom into bougainvillea — the circle is complete.
A QR-code system (coming soon) — scan your donation and instantly see the tree equivalent you have saved. Every gram of paper, accounted for.
Old textbooks travel to rural science labs through TecPlore, giving students who have never owned a science book the chance to take one home.
A structured, season-by-season rollout to make Kaakitha Pookal a permanent part of Yellow Train School's green identity.
Working with the Class 12 team to understand logistics and vendor tie-ups. Setting up book collection points and sending awareness emails to every class at Yellow Train School.
Re-launching the campaign for the new academic year with a fresh "Kaakitha Pookal" awareness assembly — celebrating the bougainvillea and the power of paper given a second life.
Setting up permanent "Pookal Collection Points" in every block of campus for year-round paper disposal — so that recycling becomes as natural as the bougainvillea climbing our school walls.
Old textbooks don't stop at our school gates — they travel to students who need them most.
A passionate community of educators, engineers and makers dedicated to transforming STEM learning in rural India. Textbooks donated through Kaakitha Pookal reach their community science labs, where students gain access to international-quality books they can read — or take home.