A trouser transformed

What does one do with a 46″waist discarded/ donated trouser? Though in reasonably good condition, the chances of finding someone who could continue to use it as a trouser are slim.

With a bit of thought, a few snips and my sewing machine, I was able to use almost every bit of fabric to turn out four useful bags. Buttons, labels, zip, pockets – all retained. All that was left unusable was a small strip. Actually, I ran short of fabric for one strap, so I needed to use a cut-off bottom part of a checked shirt, salvaged from a tailor shop.

4 bags from 1 trouser

Discouraging disposables at Lokhandwala Foundation School fun fair

At some point over the past few years, it is quite likely that you would have heard about the problems created by the ever increasing mounds of garbage in our neighbourhoods and/or the villages where our urban rubbish is being dumped. The harm to the environment, climate change, plastic cows, dead turtles, our health, contaminated water, flash floods …

Of course, with the launch of the Swachh Bharat Mission a year ago, we are constantly reminded about keeping our neighbourhoods and country clean. Apart from not littering our public spaces, anyone with common sense would directly relate this to what we throw out each day, from each of our homes – things that we could actually have done without, and which would need to go through the recycling process to save them from ending up in landfills or some unsuspecting creature’s stomach.

But do we really? Disposable carry bags for example. (Pics: internet)

Of garbage and plastic bag alternatives

Bangalore has come a long way since this message I had posted on the ZWM-Blr google group <zwm-blr@googlegroups.com> in Sept 2010, about biodegradable plastic bags.

“About one-and-a-half years ago (meaning in early 2009), at Brigade Millennium Mayflower, we decided to go with green-colour biodegradable garbage bags for chute-disposal of garbage.

After a few months, we discontinued buying the biodegradable bags because –