Upcycling - Trash to Treasure

At The Indian School-Second Shift, it is our aim to orient our young minds to develop a continuing compassion for Mother Earth, thus making a difference. Over the past years, many initiatives have been taken by the students of our School from recycling waste to energy-saving strategies, plantation drives, and cleanliness campaigns.

On 16th and 17th August17, the students of TFS went one step ahead with the initiative of upcycling!

Unlike traditional recycling, in which materials like plastic and paper are reused only a limited number of times, upcycling turns waste into products of greater value. That offers hope for achieving the biggest goal of environmentally minded design, using materials again and again to keep them out of landfills. Its trying to change the mind-set, so that people move from a disposable mind-set into a constant reuse mind-set.

A workshop was conducted on sustainable lifestyles and making a difference to the environment. The idea was to transform discarded automobile tyres, which are normally thrown into landfills into attractive planters for the School garden.

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The process began with painting the tyres by students of classes 4, 5 and 6. They were instructed about how to paint on the tyres using enamel paint, to move the brushes only in one direction while painting etc. Painting the tyres was a long process as the students did multiple coats of the bright colours to beautify them. Not only did they enjoy painting, the working in teams gave them a sense of responsibility to finish the task in the best possible way. Mr. Hashmi, who was conducting the workshop kept motivating the students through the process. He conducted multiple sessions of energisers like the Go Green dance and the story of two birds Kurukutu and Pinto to keep the children upbeat.

Once the tyres were painted and dried, it was time to transform them into planters. The base of the tyres was supported by arranging pieces of wood which were thrown out as waste. The tyres were then filled with garden soil and compost. The students also chanced upon a few earthworms!!

Once the tyres were ready, the students planted various herbs like basil, oregano, lemongrass, Citronella, Thyme, Basil and Mint in them. They were then watered and arranged in the School front garden. It was an amazing experience as the students felt proud about having created something beautiful for their School from what was considered waste. Taking this initiative forward, we encourage our students to experiment with different waste items to upcycle them with their creativity and turn trash to treasure.