All plastic cannot be recycled. Getting rid of such plastic waste is a major challenge in waste management. Gopika Santhosh, a product designer from Kozhikode, is making an effort in that direction through her products made of non-recyclable plastic waste.
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Gopika’s exhibits at the global expo on waste management technologies that concluded in Kochi on Monday were noted for the solution she offered to a problem that most participants at the expo had experienced.
“My challenge was to design value-added products from wrappers of products such as biscuits and other food products, and I zeroed in on hand bags and pouches,” said Gopika. Her stall featured seven different types of bags and pouches, the basic material of which are food packets woven into one another to create a mat-like texture. Post-consumer fabric waste has been used for lining and bag straps, besides accenting the design.
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As a graduate in product design from Kerala State Institute of Design, Kollam, Gopika was keen on working on sustainable products from the beginning. She started off designing paper and value-added products made of discarded cotton fabric for Craft Boat, Jaipur, after which she joined Green Worms, a Kozhikode-based waste management company where her job is to design utility products with non-recyclable plastic waste.
“This is an experiment, if successful, will bring about a wave of change in the State. Upcycled products have a good market outside Kerala, but the trend is yet to catch up in the State,” she said.
At the expo, Gopika faced demands from a spectrum of people for training to make the bags, which she takes as a positive sign that her products could make a wave as she envisages.