Freedom from plastic becomes theme on World Environment Day in Pune

PUNE,INDIA (Scrap Monster): Plastic waste creates a huge problem when it goes to the landfills as it is highly un-biodegradable. An event is being held to popularise recycling of plastic and use of eco-friendly materials here to coincide with World Environment Day on June 5.

A Pune city based organisation ecoexist is conducting an exhibition and sale of recycled products on June 4 and 5 where the them is " the beauty of recyling 2011-freedom from plastic"

An array of trendy and useful bags made from waste flex banners, plastic wire and woven plastic, together with cornstarch and newspaper, will now be available in the city on the occasion of World Environment Day, Times of India reported.

Apart from eCoexist, four other groups will display items made from recycled products. The articles will include mobile-holders, clutch purses, folders, shopping bags, laptop cases, wallets, pouches and shoulder bags, among others.

Coexist will display cloth and canvas bags, Thunk in India pvt ltd ( Bangalore) will display up-cycled plastic and fabric bags, while Varnajalam (Chennai) will exhibit up-cycled flex banner bags. Natur-Tec (Chennai) will present biodegradable corn starch bags, Tamasha (Ahmedabad) will display up-cycled woven plastic bags and the Rotary Club will exhibit newspaper bags.

The added attraction will be a musical performance. The group will use percussion instruments made from junk to entertain the audience. There will also be a demonstration of crochet using waste plastic bags at the venue.

Manisha Gutman, founder of eCoexist, said that the theme for the exhibition was freedom from plastic bags, understanding the problems caused by plastic and thus looking at biodegradable alternatives to plastic. The idea was to see how best this waste plastic can be re-used, so that it does not go to landfills.

SWaCH, a cooperative of waste pickers working in the city, will demonstrate the various problems with plastic.

Gutman said all these groups have tried to re-use discarded articles to make something productive. For example, the products from Tamasha have been made using plastic taken from the streets and fields in Gujarat. Each product is hand-woven by the women of Fatehpura, a small village in Gujarat, using the traditional handloom method and original patterns.

On the other hand, Thunk in India pvt ltd has collected garbage from hotels, residential properties, IT parks and coffee shops in the city to make their eco-friendly products, Times of India report added.

Most of these groups are working for the underprivileged people. Thus, the exhibition also gives people the opportunity to help the underprivileged section of society, she added