Milestones

We were able to convert the plastic waste at the Gypsy House into bottle bricks and prepared a drop zone where trekkers to Kheerganga and Bhunbhuni could drop off the bottle bricks they make while cleaning the trek routes, which later can be used for construction purposes. Simultaneously we established a relationship with our dear rag-pickers who made it a regular habit to come and collect all the recyclable materials, which were obviously pre-segregated by us. It was here, in the small room that Momo and Amit decided to form an organized structure to waste management under the name GreenAmmo

The turn-up of people at the workshop held at The Tie Dye Studio, Chennai, the enthusiasm of the volunteers to engage in the workshop, mobilize others and make bottle bricks together indicated the success in the initiative. We were able to make several bottle bricks using which we made small furniture like stool and table. The volunteers were highly motivated to work together as a team, sharing the ideas we initiated and taking them further by mobilizing more people to collect plastic from their own homes for further workshop sessions. 

We conducted cleanups at the Marina Beach, removed more than 100kg of plastic waste which included plastic wrappers and packets, spoon, straw, bottles and bottle caps which we cleaned and used to make the bottle bricks in the workshops. We were able to gain the interest and curiosity of the people at the beach, from whom we also got a lot of support, including groups such as “Angels of Marina” who have been extensively engaged in clean up drives through the coastal regions of Marina Beach.

We conducted workshops in The Olcott Memorial Higher Secondary School and Madras College of Social Work, where we have shown how bottle bricks can be used to make furniture and construction and have seen enormous enthusiasm from the students to engage in the project.

You know that your attempt to work is going places when the Govt. bodies get inspired. The BDO of Bijanbari, Mr. Kaushik Banerjee, after a workshop in one of this programs, was so impressed with the idea of bottlebricks that he conducted three simultaneous competitions that awarded households and individuals who collected the most bottlebrick. Such was the spree that today Bijanbari has a separate system of bottlebrick collection. Two toilets, the fencing of the BDO office and a compound has been made using the bottlebricks. A small Eco-park is also in the planning. 

Another use success in the North Bengal area was the swapping of 189 women from sanitary napkins to menstrual cups. These are women who struggle with electricity reaching up to their households. For them, to make such a bold decision is magnanimous. A young girl of 16, Supriya, was one of youngest “Cup Girl” who influenced her younger sister and six of her friends to switch to menstrual cups. Anjana, the leader of the SHG of Sepi, is now the dealer of Sannap menstrual cups and we often get calls that more and more women are jumping into the greener side of Period. 

When we have children as young as 6 walking beside you and cleaning the uncanny roads of Lamzung, Nepal, that itself is a mark of success. Bindeshwori and Laxmi Primary school have already started collecting their bottlebricks that keeps increasing in number every Friday after their cleanup. Soon they will have their football field well guarded with the bottlebricks. Similar is the inspiring story of the children of CWE who go for Pokhara Lake cleanup on their Saturday evenings and store the bottlebricks to make a bench at their backyard. With Sahyogi Haath Nepal we have intersected their Cervical cancer screening project with our sustainable menstruation program. Chitwan Municipality, in Chitwan, has incorporated our idea of bottlebrick in their waste pick-up system. They are now paying NPR 2 to every household for 5 bottlebricks. These bricks will be used for making the fencing for their composting pit as well as furnishing the Chitwan Bus Stand. Not only households, even the schools are now a part of our project were making, collection and model compound construction are being done.

In association with Milaap, we covered more than 11 districts, in the interiors of Odisha, where there is a huge lack of access to electricity or proper sanitation. Gram Utthan, gave us the full support while we were venturing into the lifes of the local people. We went to different villages to raise awareness on the benefits of using solar lamps compared to kerosene or battery-operated lamps. Simultaneously, mud toilets were constructed, considering the availability of red mud in abundance. There were thousands of stories of agony, festivity, life and struggle and amidst this we managed to help these villagers live a little brighter and healthier lives.

Mobilized an entire village called Mutong, in East Jaintia Hills. Every day workshops were held with the village and the neighbouring villages giving awareness on plastic problem and its solution- The bottle brick campaign.  The village head organized a “Plastic festival” where more than 1400 bottle bricks were made over a period of 2 weeks. This project was undertaken in collaboration with Grassroots, Shillong.

The enthusiasim of the villagers started with the idea of making something that represents the culture of Mutong. An Eco-Museum will be built with the bottle bricks and thus this is a sustainable project where the villagers go for clean up every week to collect plastic and make a museum for their village, the first of its kind with 10,000 bottle bricks. This project will further take shape in the coming years as the village has decided to not stop in making a musuem alone.

Vintage Hub, NEHU a restaurant gave us the opportunity to make and display our eco-products at their restaurant located in NEHU Campus in Shillong Meghalaya. A whole dining set (3 tables; 6 sofas) with two lamps was created using waste tyres, bottlebricks, PVE plastic and old jute sacks. This was a special project as we connected our previous success at Mutong by using the additional bottlebricks to make the furniture for this amazing eatery. Discarded tyres were taken from the nearby dumping ground. They were thereafter washed, cleaned, painted and used as walls to keep the bottlebricks together. The bottlebricks themselves served as fillings for the hollow segments of the tyres. For the cuishion part we used waste jute bags and fabrics to make it soft and comfortable. Besides the Sofa set we also decorated the premise of the restaurant with bottlebricks to give it a complete up-cycled look.

At Covid-19 onset, we mobilized the village named Ngunraw in South West Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. This project initiated in the heat of Covid-19, and was led by Melkaia Thogni, a local student from the village along with the Rangoi United Sports Social and Cultural Club (RUSSCC). GreenAmmo gave the entire training session online and lead an awareness session whereby the village took up the charge for every Saturday cleanups and make bottlebricks. The INR8/- PER BRICK Scheme was applied where the money is now going to the Club for the future of the children’s education. The bottlebricks will be used to make first of its kind Eco-Library for the children and youth of the village who are essentially our “man and motivation” power.