ERGO
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
NAMMA CHENNAI
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n the rural schools of Udumalpet(Coimbatore) and Ramakalmedu(Idukki), where infrastructure isinadequate, day time is filled withthe joy of learning. What adds colourto these classrooms are the pieces of furniture made out of packing woodfrom Europe. It is Corporate SocialResponsibility of a different kind for Vestas Wind Technology India.High-end packing wood used by Vestas to transport generators, bear-ings, gear boxes and other heavy ma-chinery is recycled to be made intodesks, benches and other learning tools with the help of NGO Aid India. And giving artistic shape and touch tothese wooden crates are 25-odd menand women working in a small fishing hamlet in Koovathur, near Kalpak-kam.
Wealth of out waste
It is three years since Vestas Indiahas been supplying the raw materialfor this initiative titled ‘Scrap yard toschool room’. Wood that would haveotherwise been sold on a kilo basis tothe vendor comes to four-fold use.“The wood is first de-nailed to recy-cle effectively; the end product (furni-ture) improves the learning conditions; it is a means of training-cum-livelihood for the fisher folk working; and the project prevents fell-ing of trees,” says Madhu Kumar Bop-pana, manager – corporatecommunication, Vestas. About 189 tonnes of wood has beensent so far from Vestas India in Chen-nai to Koovathur, located betweenChennai and Puducherry. Aid India trains and employs peo-ple who have “indirectly” lost their li-velihood post-tsunami, assuring them a fixed income every month.
Tapping new markets
Taking credit for this task along with others is Peter Bakos, a volunteer with Aid-India. Bakos is an Australian who retired as Marine Engineer fromthe English Merchant Navy. He initi-ated the concept and oversees theday-to-day functions and trains peo-ple. In fact, he has made the campusin Koovathur his home.“The idea was to build a commu-nity centre that would benefit tsuna-mi-affected people. Today, we arehappy that five to six boys have evenleft us to start their own enterprise incarpentry,” says Bakos. Around 40 sets of desks and bench-es are made at this training-cum-pro-duction unit every month.For Aid India this project promisesto pave way for many other initiatives.The NGO is looking at taking this pro- ject one step ahead as it is getting re-quests from other social organisationsto supply them furniture. AksharaFoundation, for example, has already placed orders for its schools.“We had made an investment of afew lakhs, but this has now grown tobecome a self-sustained unit,” says A.Ravishankar, joint secretary of Aid In-dia who is also a visiting faculty atIIT-Madras. “We are also looking atsetting up a much larger unit in Vel-lore, where other industrial waste in-cluding rubber and scrap iron can berecycled as a livelihood enterprise.”It doesn’t end there.The finished furniture is boughtover by Vestas for its many schools itis supporting – 25 schools in sevenstates, that is.
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Scrap wood comes to good use at this initiative, ‘Scrap yard to school room’, run by Vestas India and Aid India
LIFFY THOMAS
liffythomas@goergo.in
The wood is first de-nailed to recycleeffectively; the endproduct (furniture)improves the learningconditions; it is a meansof training-cum-livelihoodfor the fisher folkworking; and the projectprevents felling of trees
Then a generator crate,now a classroom desk
Rain rain come again
Bata has launched its latest monsoon collectionof shoes in pinks, reds, silver and golden. Thecollection is priced at Rs. 299.
(Clockwise) Women at the carpentryunit, students in a class andPeter Bakos
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