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- Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam

#Singleuse

Good News

How a Professor Found a Novel Way To Replace Plastic Straws

A day after Saji Varghese, an associate professor of English at Christ university in Bengaluru had a conversation with a guest from the Netherlands on the impact of single-use plastic, his eyes fell on a dried coconut leaf in the university campus and an idea struck him. As he reveals, it was like an epiphany moment for him. He believed it could be transformed into an environmentally beneficial substitute for plastic straws to have a "good impact" on the environment, something he had always considered. Saji then started his research with dried coconut leaflets. He observed a shine forming on the leaves' surface as he pressure-steamed the dried coconut leaves for his research. He found that naturally dried leaves had a natural wax that, when steamed, rose to the surface. Saji realized that the wax might give the suggested straws the anti-fungal and hydrophobic qualities that are essential in drinking straws. Saji finally established Sunbird Straws to produce drinking straws derived from naturally dried coconut leaves in 2020, three years after he had originally planned to. According to Saji, technological innovation has assisted the team in streamlining its production process. The team created a conveyor system that can produce one straw every 1.5 seconds as opposed to the previous requirement of 45 seconds for each straw. According to Saji, 86 women are engaged during both the pre-production and production phases, giving them yearlong income prospects. The company plans to increase manufacturing to 10 lakh straws each day and hire 1,000 women over the next three years. Additionally, it is looking at joint ventures abroad and developing other dried leaf products.

20 Dec 2022
Good News

Now, Use Bottle Crushing Machines and Get Your Phones Recharged!

To give a push to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s initiative to junk single-use plastic, the railways will install 400 bottle-crushing machines at stations. The interesting fact about these machines is that it can recharge your phone. All you have to do is to just key in your phone number. Reducing Plastic Footprint This step was introduced by the Railways in a bid to encourage more people to use bottle crushing machines and reduce their plastic footprint. People will certainly be attracted to these machines for the double benefit of disposing of plastic in a proper way and also of getting their phone recharged. Further, the Railways have also issued orders that single-use plastic will not be used in its premises since October 2. Taking Needful Steps To achieve the Prime Minister’s aim of making the country free of single-use plastic, Railways started this initiative of recharging phones of people who use bottle crushing machines. However, details of the recharge were not known immediately. Railway Board Chairman V.K. Yadav said that 160 bottle-crushing machines have already been installed at 128 stations. He has also issued instructions to the railway staff to collect used plastic bottles and send them for recycling. Earlier, the Railway had directed the vendors and staff to replace plastic carry bags with reusable ones. All these measures will help to reduce our plastic footprint to a great extent. Image Source: ptcnews

11 Sep 2019
Good News

India to Ban Six Items of Single-Use Plastic From October 2

In a significant step towards curbing plastic pollution, India is all set to ban single-use plastic from October 2. In his Independence Day speech on August 15, PM Narendra Modi exhorted the nation to take the first big step towards freeing India of single-use plastic. Plastic Pollution Plastic pollution is posing a grave threat to the environment and therefore, the Indian government has made banning plastic a priority. On October 2, the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a ban on single-use plastic will be imposed in the country. The ban will be comprehensive and will include plastic bags, cups, plates, small bottles, straws and certain types of sachets. It will cover manufacturing, usage and import of such items. Worldwide Concern Studies show the adverse effects of increasing plastic pollution taking place worldwide with a focus on oceans as half the percentage of the world’s plastic end up there killing marine life and entering the human food chain. The European Union is mulling to impose a ban on single-use plastic items such as straws, forks, knives and cotton buds by 2021. While India has planned to make the country plastic-free by 2022, China has also vowed to completely eliminate single-use plastic by 2025. The ban will be backed with a penalty which will be relaxed for the first six months so that people get used to alternatives. Environmental standard of plastic will be raised and only recyclable plastic will be allowed.    

29 Aug 2019
Good News

Global Inspirations

This Engineer’s Amazing Use of Plastic Bottles Will Blow Your Mind!

The world is becoming increasingly aware of the need to eliminate the use of single-use plastic and one of the significant ways of doing it is by halting its production. The already existing plastic can be recycled. However, hailing from a place that did not have modern plastic recycling machines, an engineer in Algeria Tateh Lehbib Braica came up with a novel idea to make optimum use of these bottles. The 27-year-old engineer, Tateh who was born in the Sahrawi refugee camps in Algeria, devised a master plan to employ all the plastic bottles to make homes for refugees. It was his brainchild to use sand-filled plastic bottles as bricks to build homes. Sturdy Homes Tateh built eco-friendly houses with sand-filled plastic bottles, cement and a mixture of earth and straw. A team of four people would use around 6000 bottles to make one house in a week. The houses were built in a circular shape in order to withstand storms. The structure was water-resistant adding to its advantage. The exterior was painted white so as to reduce the impact of solar rays by up to 90%. Grant To Build Houses After being convinced about the benefits of his newly constructed houses, Tateh convinced his community to support his innovation along with the UNHCR's Geneva HQ. The agency agreed to give them a grant which saw innumerable houses being built in the five Sahrawi refugee camps in the Algerian province of Tindouf. Tateh with his brilliant idea is not only preventing plastic from polluting the ecosystem, but also providing shelter to thousands of people. Hats off to him! Image Source: World Habitat

3 Oct 2019
Global Inspirations

Positive Reads

Five Ways to Shun Plastic

The Centre, in order to protect and conserve our environment, was all set to impose a ban on single-use plastic from October 2. However, amidst fear of the ban being disruptive for the industry amidst fears of an economic slowdown and job losses, the plan has been shelved for now. There is no doubt that plastic is a great polluter as it aggravates air pollution when it is burnt and causes harm to marine organisms when it enters seas and oceans. We are so inclined to use plastic because of its convenience that we fail to notice the harm it is causing to the environment. Even if we realize the hazards, we ignore it thinking that one person won’t make a difference. Therefore, a collective ban on plastic had become imperative. A small effort from our side will go a long way in creating a big impact on our environment. Here are some ways by which you can eliminate the use of plastic: Reusable water bottle:  While traveling, always carry your own reusable water bottle which can be refilled instead of buying the packaged ones and then disposing them to create plastic waste. Say no to plastic glass and cutlery: In recent years, more and more households had resorted to plastic cutlery while hosting get-togethers and parties as there is no hassle of washing utensils and they can be disposed of easily. However, after a function, the heap of plastic waste poses a huge pollution problem. Therefore, make the switch to eco-friendly cutlery like the ones made from wood which are readily available at supermarkets. Avoid plastic straws: When you are being served a lemonade or cold coffee, say no to plastic straws and ask for paper straws or glass straws in its place. Get your own cloth bag:  Carrying your own cloth bag to buy groceries and other stuff will be a major step towards curbing plastic pollution. The reusable cloth bag can drastically cut down the use of plastic as people very carelessly ask for plastic carry bags even for one or two items. This habit should stop and one should always keep a cloth carry bag while stepping out of the house. Buy milk in a glass bottle:  In my childhood days, I remember my mother would daily keep glass bottles at the door of the house which the milk vendor would replace with refilled and sealed milk bottles. This practice should return to avoid pollution caused by billions of milk packets. Let us take this initiative by ourselves to shun single-use plastic and thus make a big contribution to the environment as well as to humanity.

25 Sep 2019
Positive Reads

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