Upcycling CWG waste for environment conservation

We have often heard the phrase, “Good riddance of the bad rubbish”, how about turning the tables for once and accept the rubbish and rephrase the sentence to “Good retain of the bad rubbish”. Well, an Aussie’s initiative made it possible to find a meaningful trajectory for the discards of CWG into useful things like designer bags, umbrellas, fancy footwear and many more.

Liz Franzmann, the 37 year old Aussie, is collaborating with Delhi based NGO, Conserve India so that the Games help people to see the environment in a new light and they become more environmentally conscious and responsible.  And at a time when we are cribbing about the humongous expenses incurred in CWGs, this news comes as a little succour. After all, the Indian government has not spent mindlessly. They are creating value out of the products even after the purpose for which they were initially made.

And if you are wondering what is the difference between recycling and up cycling, let me calm your apprehensions- it is the practice of taking disposable or discarded things and repurposing them into valuable, useful or aesthetically pleasing items. What is to be noted is that in upcycling, the price of the finished product does not get devalued as in comparison to its counterpart recycling.

Anita Ahuja of Conserve India admits logically, “We want to capture the positive essence of CWG and turn the waste into valuable products”.

Liz, who is on a scholarship grant from Australian government, is here to receive a professional development award, also called the executive award in India. The idea came while she was listening to Indian academics by Amrit Srivavsan of IIT who later visited Australia where Liz again had a chance to meet her and listen to her talks about the reform in economics in Delhi.  She was a training manager for grant Victoria then, majorly arranging grants for funding of sustaining programmes development.  She also lived in Nepal for one year and had some idea about South Asia. “I came to India and made a decision only in 2009 end but could come here only in August, next year. I am the project coordinator and work with Conserve India as a partner for this initiative”, she further informs.

On asked about the range of items, the market and the price range, she was quick to admit, “We are still working on that. For tackling environment problems, India is a great place for providing training and opportunity. We haven’t finalized the product range; I am looking for Indian designers apart from the two American designers we have currently”.

While revealing her further plans, she avers, “Our products are for the domestic and international market and it would be a great experience for those who couldn’t visit India and see the game plus also those who could come here but couldn’t carry back great mementoes. It would be like possessing a piece of CWG and cherishing it for the sheer love of it so we expect the products would be a rage”.

They have already procured the first waste in the form of promotional canvas and vinyl banners that sported “Go India! Go for Gold” and turned into limited edition designer bags while following up with the subsequent waste.

Well, we had a great time watching the games, even better time applauding those who brought in a gush of awards for the country. It’s time now to procure a valuable piece of the CWG as a reminiscence of the historical mega games.