AHMEDABAD: For some kids,
manja
is at the cutting edge of recycling — kite strings that can slit become materials that provide a comfortable seat! Over the past four years, about 250 schoolchildren of Ahmedpur village in Dehgam have been collecting discarded kite strings which are then used as fillings for
cushions
. The kids begin their collection drive after Vasi Uttarayan, the second day of the
Uttarayan
festival.
They gather the strings from roads, terraces, poles, and fences. Typically, a string pile of 60-80kg is brought to the school ground and the dangerous trash is bought by the school and parents for Rs 20 per kg. The pile is sent to a tailor’s shop in the village, where chair cushions are made with strings as fillings.
The cushions are used by the school and also by the gram panchayat office. The initiative was launched four years ago by
Hasmukh Patel
, the principal of Ahmedpur Government Primary School. He was pained to see scores of birds suffering injuries after getting caught in these sharp kite strings for many days after Uttarayan. “I kept thinking about a solution. Four years ago, it struck me that I could ask the kids to collect the strings,” Patel said. “They are energetic and keep running around the village. So they might as well collect the strings.”
The primary school of Ahmedpur has 250 students studying in Classes 1 to 8. The tiny village’s population is about 2,000.
“I talked to the kids before Uttarayan about this idea. I did not know how they would respond,” Patel said. “I also told them that the biggest string collection will get a gift. A couple of days after Uttarayan, I saw students carrying extra bags.” He added: “They had collected strings from the entire village. I was astonished that the total collections weighed 80kg!”
Patel said that after the manja menace was cleared from the village, he did not know what the next step should be. “So we piled up the strings and set them afire,” he said. “But later, some village residents pointed to the environmental hazard.”
The next year, the kids again brought in about 80kg of kite strings, Patel said. “As an experiment I took some of it to the tailor’s shop and asked him to make a chair cushion for me,” he said. “The cushion he made was very comfortable to sit on!” The remaining pile of strings was also sent to the tailor and many cushions were made.
Patel said that then the School Management Committee (SMC), composed of parents, took over this effort. “The next year, village members paid Rs 20 per kg to the kids and the pile was again converted into comfortable cushions,” Patel said. “I asked the president of the SMC about the source of the funds. I was told that village residents had donated!”
Gulabsinh Zala, the president of the SMC, who runs a grocery shop in the village, said: “We thought that this initiative will die out gradually if the kids don’t get an incentive.” Zala added: “So my friends and I asked people to donate whatever they could. Some donated Rs 5, some Rs 10, and others Rs 200. Using this fund we bought strings from the kids.” Zala’s two daughters and one son study at the school.
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