This Kerala girl collects discarded bottles from lakes and upcycles them
It took a single day to turn her love for art into entrepreneurship. However, it was never about business for 23-year-old Aparna S, who is a natural at making art and craft. A resident of Munroe Thuruthu in Kollam district of Kerala, Aparna was walking pass the banks of Ashtamudi Kayal Lake, she noticed mounds of discarded glass bottles polluting the area.
She picked up a few bottles that she thought were pretty, went back home, and painted them. Slowly, it became a routine for her. It’s been more than a year of complete dedication, and every piece of her bottles look like real gem.
She even started a social media page titled ‘Quppi’ to sell her art. Her page also found a great following as she continued to collect, pain and upcycle the glass bottles from the lake.
“It was encouraging as I began getting a lot of orders. While I was happy that everyone loved my products, what made me happier was the fact that the areas from where I was picking these discarded bottles were slowly becoming cleaner. My efforts were successful in not only making the lakeside more beautiful but also in inspiring others,” she said in an interview.
Encouraged by her actions, many people also joined her initiative, and started collecting the discarded bottles and supply the same to her. When Aparna saw that many people were interested in helping her, she updated a post on her social media page and invited people to a clean-up drive along Link Road near Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus stand.
Many people showed up and together, they collected a truck-load of glass bottles for her business. This led her to do something extraordinary on March 22, which is celebrated as ‘World Water Day'. She again invited people to help her in cleaning up the DTPC’s Adventure Park, and this time too, she wasn’t disappointed. In fact, the park’s authority allowed the participants to enter the area free of cost!
More than a 100 people joined her clean-up drive on the 22 March. By noon, they had collected a lot of material. They put up a stall near the KSRTC bus stand and sold a number of products afterwards.
Even though, she receives good returns for her products, Aparna started this initiative purely out of her passion for art and crafts.
Aparna is a first-year B.ED student who credits her mother for her love for crafts.
“Like I go around collecting bottles, my mother, who works in the State Health Department, loves collecting pots and every time she steps out, she gets at least one home,” she says cheekily.
When you ask her about her future plans, Aparna says she wants to empower people who have suffered from sexual abuse and human trafficking at the Nirbhaya shelter home in the city.
Aparna used to volunteer there and engaged people with art and crafts, which helped in their healing. She now aims to help them make a living out of it.
That’s one human this world so desperately needs!
We wish her the best in all her future endeavors. Follow her Facebook page to ‘Quppi’ to know more about her.
