A group of students of the Panchayat Union Middle School in Pudupalayam village, near Edappadi here, have been using eco-friendly pens in an effort to check the usage of plastic materials.
A majority of the students use the use-and-throw plastic pens available in the market, which badly affect the environment.
Dhanraj, Danush, Manojkumar, Jothipriya, Sankar, and Tamilselvan under the guidance of their teacher S. Dinesh have produced the organic pen.
Plantain leaf, papaya leaf stem, coconut leaf, and castor stem are used as body of the pen. They have fixed the nib at one end of the stem, and closed the other end using maida starch to hold the ink.
Dhanraj, Danush, Manojkumar, Jothipriya, Sankar, and Tamilselvan say that this organic pen could be used for a few months. When abandoned, they become organic manure.
The students said that about 5.68 lakh students from the primary classes to Plus-Two in the district throw away 160 tonnes of used plastic pens a year.
These plastic pens lead to huge accumulation of plastic wastes affecting the environment in a big way.
According to Mr. Dinesh, the project was designed for the National Science Congress 2017. The Thulir Illam unit sponsored by the Tamil Nadu Science Forum functioning in the middle school, has been submitting different projects in the National Science Congress for the last few years.
The students of the panchayat union middle school have been using these green pens for long.
Mr. Dinesh said that Tamil Nadu Science Forum has already reviewed the pen, and it will be submitted for the National Science Congress 2017.
