TIRUVANANTHAPURAM : All lit up vibrantly, the ‘lantern’ of sorts scream for attention. The sprightly animated lights flicker about in abandon in an old bottle of vodka, with the lights throwing myriad patterns all around. What was just a discarded piece of scrap has received a fresh spin. The refuse becomes a collector’s item here. The old receives a swanky, new look.
It is all about upcycling at Planter’s Portico, the newly launched entrepreneurship venture of Sivaramakrishna Sarma R. Here, decors are crafted out from scrap.“It all started with this,” says Sivaramakrishna Sarma, handing over a money plant, grown in a small pot made of white cement. “My friend had made this. She asked if I could create something,” he recalls. For someone working in the plantation sector, Sivaramakrishna Sarma was witness to the dangerous impacts the ecology has been subjected to. “We see what happens to the ecology on a daily basis.
In our plantation, we have seen the impact with people throwing waste recklessly. They come to tour the area and we cannot frisk everyone,” says Sivaramakrishna Sarma, chief executive of The Travancore Rubber and Tea Co. Ltd. And his new venture is an effort at addressing waste that tends to accumulate on our streets. Candle holders, lanterns, pen holders are all crafted out from old and discarded glass bottles.
“Earlier we used to have hawkers coming in to collect the glass bottles. Now they don’t. And one article that you find in huge numbers in the street is glass bottles. And that is how it all began,” says Sivaramakrishna Sarma. Now whenever he is out, he makes it a point to collect glass bottles on the streets which can be refurbished into artefacts. “I have also been telling my friends to give the bottles.
The easiest way to collect bottles is by getting old bottles from beverage shops. I chose not to do that as they already have a system of disposing of the waste. With this, I get to remove bottles from the streets,” he says. The bottles collected go through a rigorous cleaning processes. Those used to hold jam, sauce, honey, or liquor have all been crafted into unique decors. Most of them even have scratches on them, having been collected from the streets.
But they are all unique, encompassing a fine charm. “If more people take this up, we can all ensure that the waste doesn’t end up in our surroundings and that it is put to further use,” he adds.For the past three months, Sivaramakrishna Sarma has been collecting bottles. “But I didn’t have any clue as to what I would be doing with it. It was only later that I decided to craft decors out of it.
The ideas are not original. All have been borrowed from YouTube. Anyone can do this, by which they can easily take off one piece of scrap from the streets,” he says.He is all geared up to launch a new venture. “It is more of like an appeal. All you need to do is bring three plastic bottles and give me, maybe 15 rupees. And I will make something really worthy out of it. Maybe a vertical garden,” he says.The Facebook business initiative of Sivaramakrishna Sarma is an attempt to pull out waste from the streets. He says that his purpose will be met if people get inspired seeing the upcycling and chooses to emulate that. “I hope it will create a cascading effect,” he adds.