Adding Value to Waste

Summer is the time when children consume dollops of ice cream and empty scores of squash bottles. The resultant rubbish is an irritant surely. As she looked at the heap of popsicle sticks and plastic bottles littering her home, an idea flashed in her mind. Why throw them away, why not recycle them?

Sireesha set to work. And when she finished a few hours later, she sat back and looked. There was a glint of pride in her eyes. The ice cream sticks turned into a mobile phone docking station and a pen stand. Wow. Her friends couldn't help appreciating. And what's more her creativity fetched her a prize in her college day function.

The Commerce Day programme held recently at the KSN Government Degree College for Women, Anantapur, saw students unplugging creativity. They churned out amazing things out of waste. Everyone gasped in disbelief when Adilakshmi converted use-and-throw paper cups into a beautiful wall hanging, her colleague, Nikhita Reddy, created a decorative item using the base of plastic bottles  while Ramalakshmi made a tiny hut out of peanut shells. If you put on the thinking cap there is no such thing as waste material. And there is no end to the things you can make out of rubbish. One man's trash could  be another man's treasure, the students proved.

Creativity is nothing but connecting things. The discarded things in homes and offices can become marvellous products when joined together. All that is required is glue, cutter, cardboard and a bit of ingenuity. "The idea is to inculcate eco-friendly attitude among children and to encourage them to reduce solid waste" says college principal, Dr. K.V. Ramana.

For some students plastic bottles came handy to alter them into smart rubbish bin. A dash of colour and deft strokes of funny DIY Emojis gave a whole new appeal to them. "One has to look at things not as waste but see them for what they can be", says Vijaya Brunda, a lecturer.

Leftover material like unwanted kitchenware, broken furniture and e-waste can get a new lease of life. They can be transformed into a diverse range of products, including beautiful home decor and pieces of art. "This way we can do the planet earth a favour", feels English lecturer, Saiqua Parveen. With mounting waste and pollution, reuse and recycle is the need of the hour. The possibilities are infinite if only one has out of box ideas.

J.S.Ifthekhar,

Hyderabad based journalist.

Dated March 30,2019