Environment sustainability, recycling, greener cleaner planet … seem to be just words which we use in our essays, write-ups or convey in seminars, but most of us fail to realise that every small step towards attaining them is like a drop in the ocean, that too if started right away.
Aashray Foundation, Chandigarh, an NGO which works in the field of ‘education for all’ and many other areas, has come up with sustainable pens, pencils, and calendars which have seeds in them. The seeds sprout into plants like ajwain, vegetables like spinach, flowers, etc.
CityWoofer chatted up with the brainchild behind this innovation, Shane Bakshi, Director, Aashray Foundation, to find out more.
Tell us about how the concept works?
In the pencil, there are seeds at the rear end which you can plant anywhere in a flower pot, in your lawn, home, school, anywhere, when you are done with the pencil. In the calendar and pens, there are dry seeds which are mixed in the paper. Once you are done with a month, you can plant that particular paper.
Whenever any of these biodegradable stationery items goes out of use, you can just plant it normally and it will grow into a beautiful plant.
So you generate your own special paper for this?
Yes, we obtain raddi from our copartner Scrapbuk, the online medium of selling raddi (used paper), and this project is also co-powered by Scrapbuk. We customize the paper during the process in which we add the dry seeds.
How did you come across the idea?
I was just surfing for more ideas on the Internet for recycling. I got a clue from there and then further developed it on my own along with my team. Till now, we have distributed about 5,000-6,000 seed-based stationery items.
The Aashray Foundation has adopted different areas in Chandigarh to extend support to all the needy people who cannot afford education. It runs two pathshalas in Mohali (in Kharar and near GILCO Valley resorts), two in Chandigarh ( in Sector 38 and Industrial Area), and one in Sector 4, Panchkula.
Aashray commemorated Earth Day on April 22 and educated people on the urgent need to adopt methods to save environment. A cleanliness drives and was held at the Sukhna Lake by Aashray volunteers.
