World Earth Day: Making Earth a more livable place

Deepkamal Kaur

Jalandhar, April 22

Keeping the spirit of Jalandharites alive to save the Mother Earth and contribute their every bit to maintain ecology, a bunch of crusaders are engaged in varied activities that are helping reduce the volume of waste going to the landfills.

Instead they are recycling the waste, making useful items out of them and distributing the same to the people in the community. Social activist Ramanpreet Kaur has been collecting waste strips of clothes from the boutiques and has engaged a couple of women in her project which she calls ‘Green Sparrows’. Under this project, she has been getting handbags, rugs, purses, face masks, aprons, doormats etc. made from them and selling them at exhibitions being organised in the city.

Says Ramanpreet: “We are selling our items at very nominal prices and people like them. I just keep 2-3 per cent of the selling price for the running cost of the project and the remaining amount goes to the women who design and ready different items. This way, we are not just saving a bulk of waste cloth going into trash, but also putting it to good use.”

Ramanpreet is also engaged in the Swachh Bharat Mission project under which she has recently got readied 400 kg of compost readied at waste pits set up in Dakoha. “A lot of people are getting involved in our campaign in the area and have started segregating waste from their places. The green waste from their kitchens is going to the pit for preparing compost to be used in gardens, parks etc,” she elaborated.

Like Ramanpreet, Meenal Verma too is engaged in a similar cause. Completely averse to the use of chemical products like phenol for cleaning of toilets, floors, kitchen shelves etc, she advocates the use of bioenzymes. Recently, she has tied up with a juice corner of the city and is getting fruit peels from him to manufacture bioenzymes at her place. “I take buckets from my place to procure the peals. I have got huge used containers of fevicol in which I make bioenzymes. As these get readied in three months or so, I strain and pour the sweet smelling liquid part into the used soda bottles which I bring home from shops and distribute these to people for use”, said Verma.

Verma, who runs the project ‘Zero Waste’, has recently also started monthly waste collection from people wherein people deliver papers, plastics, electronic waste, recyclable containers etc to her. “In return, I have been presenting them my bioenzyme bottles or planters that I have got made out of cowdung. We channelise the various collected waste items to the points where they can be recycled or put to another use.”

Meanwhile, a group of youth under the banner of Sarbat Di Sewa Welfare Society has started distributing bird water pots made of earthen material free of cost to the devotees visiting Talhan Sahib gurdwara. “We organised a camp during which each visitor to our stall was given a pot each to be kept on walls, verandahs and rooftops to be filled with water daily for the birds to quench their thirst in the hot summer weather”, said Tia Bedi and Tarun Bedi, organisers of the camp.

“Our organisation, which gets donations for various welfare projects including medical checkup camps and blood donation etc, bears the expenses incurred. We get pots made for Rs 20 each. We intend to organise 2-3 more such camps for distribution of water pots for birds in the near future too”, said Tarun, who is a businessman by profession.