City-based environment groups Mother Earth Enviornment Consciousness Society (MEECONS) and Green Waves demonstrated how to upcycle plastic and glass bottles at a two-hour workshop attended by 30 interested participants at the Yoga Hall in Shivaji Park.
- GreenWaves has collected around two tonnes of e-waste from Visakhapatnam in 2019. You can schedule a pickup using their app Rebyte or 70933 51666
- Along with conducting environment related awareness sessions MEECONS also screens documentaries. For more details 98858 30838
Only a fraction of plastic is recycled and the rest is dumped in landfills, said the founder of MEECONS, Ravi Kanth Reddy “If we really want to reduce plastic pollution we should stop using it ,” he said. Bhagyasree Venugopal, a volunteer from MEECONS,showed how glass bottles could be turn into decorative pieces. The representative of the e-waste management organisation GreenWaves, S Sai Brahmani spoke of a project where efforts were on to change the mindset of people. This is done by upcycling e-waste into jeewellery and other decorative items. “These products are given as a token of appreciation to our users. In our experience, it encourages to people to do better e-waste segregation.”
- GreenWaves has collected about 750 kilograms of PET bottles during 2019 from Visakhapatnam. About 85% of them sent to recycling suppy chain while the remaining bottles were turned into art.
- MEECONS collects about 20 to 30 glass bottles from its members each month. These bottles are decorated by volunteers and then sold at thier events to raise funds for charity.
Both Bhagyasree and Sai Brahmani shared tips on how to avoid using plastic and how to recycle the bottles one had. They also emphasised that change could come about only by individual will and action. A group of enthusiastic school children learnt to make decorative pieces out of discarded bottles by covering them with colourful threads and ribbons. “I like the idea of decorating my room with these, more so since it also helps the environment,” said 13-year-old Yoshita Bhaviripundi, a student of Silver Oaks School.
The upcycled products, such as pen holders, artificial flowers and wind chimes, were put on display at the workshop..
Sixty-year-old Rani Jayanti showed up at the workshop after receiving a whatsapp message. Rani has been upcycling waste into toys and decorative items for years, she says. “Such events are important in spreading awareness. They also help build a community that understands why reducing plastic is important and acts responsibly.”