Seventy-five-year old V.R. Aiyer interacts with children at the 2-day exhibition on waste management at Bandra (west)
Seventy-five-year old V.R. Aiyer interacts with children at the 2-day exhibition on waste management at Bandra (west)
While the city has been battling the garbage problem, an elderly man from Santacruz has found his own way to deal with the crisis. In addition to making decorative items from trash, 75-year-old V.R. Aiyer is spreading awareness about saving the environment from the plastic menace.
On the occasion of Earth Day, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) organised a two-day exhibition on waste management at General Arunkumar Vaidya Kridangan at Bandra west. At the exhibition, the stall set up by Mr Aiyer became the centre of attraction.
Apart from showcasing decorative items made from dry waste and other discarded items, Mr Aiyer demonstrated his skills and trained onlookers on how to make similar items. A mechanical engineer by profession, Mr Aiyer has been creating awareness about the hazards of plastic. The idea was born out of his love for tennis. After retirement, he became a coach giving tennis lessons to budding kids from surrounding areas. “During coaching, I noticed that after the end of every session, the Santacruz ground, where I was giving tennis training, would become a dump of empty water and cold drink bottles that were strewn all over the place,” said Mr Aiyer. Seeing the trash around him, the nature-loving septuagenarian started thinking what could be done with those bottles. Finally, he decided to take the problem head on and make durable items using dry trash etc. That’s when his journey started and now, Mr Aiyer makes chairs, trophies, caps, footwear etc. from empty water and cold drink bottles. By selling these items, he ets some income as well.
“The money earned from this is however, again invested into buying waste, which is reused for making these items,” said Mr Aiyer.
If the city needs to get rid of its garbage problem, Mumbaikars need to follow people like Mr Aiyer. “These exhibitions are a part of our efforts to create awareness about waste management among people,” said a senior civic official.
