MADURAI: At a time when plastics are known to have global ecological impact, a man who delivers water cans has been doing his bit to make people aware of the looming danger and why they should be disposed of carefully.
K Ashok Kumar, a BA graduate from Madurai, says he found that water bottles thrown on the roadsides and open places constituted a large portion of garbage and decided to do something about it. “Plastic is an environmental hazard which is here to stay. But we should do our bit and recycle it as much as possible,” says he. He collects empty water bottles from the roadside and fills them with some soil. Simultaneously, he also picks herbs or medicinal plants growing on the side of pavements and roads and plants them in these bottles. ``I maintain the small plants for about fifteen days and when they establish roots and show signs of growing, I give them to people who ask for them free of cost,’’ he said.
He has found plants like oregano, tulsi, Solanum Trilobatum, veldt grape and other herbs. Around twenty people have come to him for the plants so far in one month as word spread about his noble cause. “I also collect saplings of larger plants and grow them in the cans, and plan to plant them near water bodies,’’ he said.
Among the plants that he collects, there is high demand for tulsi. He has only one request to the people who take the plants: Replant them and send the plastic bottle for proper recycling without disposing it in garbage. “This is a tiny step, but even if I collect only 30 bottles and reuse them, it means I am dealing with a minute portion of environmental degradation, which gives me immense pleasure,’’ he said. Ashok Kumar also makes toys out of palmyra seeds and gives them to children with a request to the parents to plant it by the roadside or near a waterbody when their child gets tired of the toy.
