#ashokasays Did you know 279:
All of us use ball pens don't we? Many of the
times they are just used and thrown. Have you ever imagined the number
of pens that are thrown all over the world?! Assuming that out of 1
billion out of 7 billion people in the world use the "use and throw"
pens and each one use this one pen for a month, there are 12 billion
small plastic pens being thrown away every year!! Some how I feel even
this is on a very very conservative side. I don't think any of us even
think about doing something about this problem. But not for this lady
Lakshmi Menon, an obsessed Eco-evangelist. She is extremely aware of
this problem.
A designer by profession, she runs an organization in Cochin, Kerala that is dedicated to finding sustainable livelihood solutions, called Pure Living. The ideas are really simple and she had made things workable too.
Lakshmi has combined her design skills with love for the environment and crafted pens made from waste paper. At the bottom of each pen, she has buried a seed of a tree. Once a pen has been used up, it can just be planted into the soil. The see will sprout from the bottom of the pen!.
A designer by profession, she runs an organization in Cochin, Kerala that is dedicated to finding sustainable livelihood solutions, called Pure Living. The ideas are really simple and she had made things workable too.
Lakshmi has combined her design skills with love for the environment and crafted pens made from waste paper. At the bottom of each pen, she has buried a seed of a tree. Once a pen has been used up, it can just be planted into the soil. The see will sprout from the bottom of the pen!.
She
calls the pens "Entree" as they symbolize an entry by the user into
eco-friendly living. Apart from this she has made sure that she doesn't
use new paper to manufacture them. She has using paper waste that is
generated in the printing presses. The paper is rolled with a machine
which she has designed herself and patented. The machine ensure that the
paper is rolled tight enough to be as tenacious as plastic pens.
She
has been thoughtful in using the seed inside the pens. They are of the
versatile Agasthya tree also known as humming bird tree. The tree
apparently even hold special place in Ayurveda for their medicinal
properties.
Entrée brings down the usage of plastic per pen to
one-fifth of a normal
ballpoint pen. It is one-fifth and not nil because the refills are
still made of plastic. But definitely its better than what we have
normally been doing and its a great start towards saving our
environment. Someday, possibly even the plastic refill should go away.
The
cost at this moment is around Rs.12, where as a normal ball pen would
have costed you Rs.5. But I don't think we mind to spend that extra
rupees towards saving our environment.
Her other business venture ‘Ammoommathiri’ for the elderly in poor old age homes.
‘Wicksdom’ is an initiative to make wicks for oil lamps out of cotton
yarn. The loving hands behind this initiative belongs to the elders in
poor homes. They find relief in this activity to use their time
effectively and also to have an additional source of income.
And here is the address,
VIII/275A,P.O.Kulayettikkara,
VIII/275A,P.O.Kulayettikkara,
And the phone number : +91 9895040899
INCREDIBLE BHARATHIYA
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