Eco Toothbrushes?

 Hello everyone!! How are you all? 

Today we will be talking about one of the most essential item which we use everyday in the morning and at night and it is one and only- TOOTHBRUSH! Yes, toothbrushes are also a major contributor of plastic. As many as 3.5 billion toothbrushes are sold every year worldwide (information taken from WWF Australia) . Many of them end up in landfill or in stomachs of fishes. These toothbrushes are made of plastic and nylon and take ages to decompose. Then what's the solution?

 

Solution is quite simple- bamboo toothbrushes! (DISCLAIMER- Bamboo toothbrushes don't replace floss)

Now you might think that Nishtha we are trying to get rid of plastic from our day to day lives but even if we try to do so, we can't. Why? Since plastic is largely available its cost is quite low and buying anything made other than plastic will increase our expenses! Now what? 

As it is clearly a big problem, I searched what's the cost of bamboo toothbrushes and to my surprise they are not as expensive as I had thought. Its 45 rupees for a toothbrush! Now you might get a plastic toothbrush for rupees 25 but hold on your horses. Bamboo toothbrushes are found to be way better than plastic toothbrush- 

Firstly because they are biodegradable and hence eco- friendly. 

The bristles of bamboo toothbrushes are made of charcoal which is reduces the damage due to harsh brushing and bleeding gums. 

Do bamboo toothbrushes clean our teeth as efficiently as a plastic ones? Yes they do and you will love how smoothly they will clean the plaque from your teeth. 

So Nishtha we understood that bamboo brushes function well but from where should we purchase them? I found this website https://www.bamboohaat.com/. They are not only selling eco friendly toothbrushes but also razors, combs etc. (NOT SPONSORED)

Another one is https://bambooindia.com/products/btsta04. They too sell many products made form bamboo.( NOT SPONSORED)

Nishtha you say we should do this and that... Are you yourself using a bamboo toothbrush? Yes ---- Check this out 

Now Nishtha, bamboo toothbrushes are fine but isn't it too hard on trees? Yes I know but according to me you can plant trees but plastic once manufactured will stay on earth forever... 

So I was searching and I found a solution to this problem as well. 

Vasshin, an environmental engineering company manufactures toothbrushes not from bamboo, even better- They use fallen pine needles in the Himalayas which cause forest fires and make toothbrushes out of them. These toothbrushes are called Brush Against Fire toothbrushes and it is a made in India product!

 https://agrocomposites.com/products/plastic-free-toothbrush (NOT SPONSORED) 

Thanks for staying tuned and reading till the end
Until the next time 

Keep saving the environment!

Learn To Say NO

 Hello everyone. Welcome back. Before starting with our topic today, a quick update about my coriander plant.

Week 3 update

Ok so now today we are going to talk about

REFUSE

In simple terms refuse means to deny.

For eg- When you go for drinking coconut water, the vendor gives plastic straws. Say "No, thank you" to the vendor and refuse straws as much as you can.

Eg 2- When you go to school to buy books, you also get plastic covers. Refuse the plastic covers and instead of covering with plastic, use newspaper.

Eg3- The most common example is when you go for buying vegetables. The vendor packs the vegetables in a plastic bag. There you need to refuse the bag and put the vegetables in your jute bag.

I would like to wrap up today's blog with a quote that could be a reality too.

"What you put out into the universe, you get it back"

So going by this, one fine day, it is quite possible that you might feed on a fish that fed itself on plastic thrown in water.

See you all soon!!

Thank you

Abara Ka Dabara Mr. Plastic (Part-3)

 Hello everyone!! Welcome back to my blog. First of all apologies. I was not able to update the blog because of my exams. And the most important thing that happened in these 2 weeks was that I developed an interest in growing plants. 

With this, we start with today's topic and that is "repurpose".

REPURPOSE

In simple terms repurpose is when any particular object is used again but the purpose is changed. Usually, people get confused in between reuse and repurpose

Reuse means when something is used again for the same purpose while repurposing means that you are using something again but changing the purpose of its use.

For example- I used a plastic cup to grow coriander.

The gardener said that the cup is too delicate so it may not last for long but seriously guys, I wanted to try. So what I did was -

-Adding garden soil

-Sowing the coriander seeds

-Watering them 

But that is not it. Some advice

#Make sure you cover the seeds with soil completed

#Do not sow the seed very deep in.

#Turn the soil before sowing the seeds

#Water it every day and bingo you will see amazing results.

My coriander

-

I even painted the cup

Next, I tried to grow tomatoes in a Limca bottle. I cut the upper portion of the bottle. In the lower portion, I added garden soil and then I placed a thinly sliced tomato in the soil and then covered it completely. After 2 weeks a very small stem grew.

My tomato

These were some fun things I tried. I think you will also be encouraged to repurpose the plastic.

And one more thing

This is how I repurposed a medicine bottle

Well, all this went well, it was very easy and I am super happy with the results. Try it and then share your photos!! 

Thank you,

Regards,

Nishtha Maheshwari

Abara Ka Dabra Mr.Plastic (Part 2)

Hello everyone!! Greetings of the day. Today we are going to continue with what we did previously.

Today we are going to understand reuse and recycle

First

Reuse

Re means again and use means to utilize so it means utilizing plastics again without changing its purpose. Let us understand with examples.

Say that you have a sanitizer bottle and then after repeatedly using it the sanitizer is finished.

So what do we usually do in this case?

We throw the bottle but instead of doing that we can fill that bottle again with sanitizer. 

As we reuse our clothes by giving them to our younger sibling similarly we need to reuse plastic. 

Lets see some more examples

-Rather than buying a new soap liquid container every time after the soap is finished, reuse that soap container.

-Rather than disposing of the plastic cutlery only after single use, try to wash and use the plastic cutlery again.

-You can do the same with plastic polythenes etc. Reusing is an excellent way to use both thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics.

Now let us talk about recycling. 

Recycling is the collection of used materials (that would otherwise be waste)  to be broken down and remade into new products. Here comes a question. What can be recycled and what cannot be?

So answer to this question is the segregation of waste. 

We have four dustbins

-Wet Waste

-Dry Waste 

-Sanitary Waste 

-E-waste

The wet waste dustbin is green in colour. In this dustbin, we put vegetable peels, fruit peels, eggshells, fish bones or chicken bones. The waste we put in this can be made into a compost

The dry waste dustbin is blue in colour. In this dustbin, we put plastic bottles, polythenes, straws, newspapers, paper etc. All this waste is recycled.

Note only thermoplastics can be recycled.

The Sanitary waste dustbin is yellow in colour. In this dustbin, we put gloves, masks, shoe covers, pads etc.

The E-waste dustbin is red in colour. In this dustbin, we put the hazardous waste like sims of mobles, refrigerators etc.

See I have started segregation at home-

Segregation in my society

So I start segregation at your home.

That is all for today 

Bye!!

Abara Ka Dabra Mr.Plastic

 Hello everyone!!! Welcome back 🎉🎉🎉🎉!! Today's title suits this part of the blog best!! Let us understand how? 

Ok so firstly check these pictures.

What do you observe? 

My observation

- Lots of garbage ( mostly plastic) 

- Rag Pickers picking the garbage

- Cow eating the garbage

I collected these photos so you can see the worst conditions created by our society. This garbage mountain is present near my locality. Soon it will be one of the famous site of our locality which will also be known as The Kachre Ka Pahad after Ghazipur and Bhalswa. 

All these pictures suggest that lots amount of waste is produced which we throw carelessly. Secondly, we have created sooooooooooooooo (infinite o's) unhygienic conditions for the rag pickers. Thirdly, the cows and other animals are unknowingly swallowing the garbage. 

Now we understand that using plastic has more disadvantages than advantages. So now let's take a step forward and put a magic spell that is Abara ka Dabra which will ultimately help us destroy Mr. Plastic. 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, Refuse, Repurpose

We will understand every topic in detail

Reduce

Reducing plastic can be one of the major steps which can help the environment. Before understanding it in detail check out this link

https://www.thehappyturtle.in/plastic-footprint-calculator-individual/

Copy and paste in browser

This link will help you check your plastic footprint. 

After you have checked ☑ your footprint, open your email. This site might have given some tips on how you can reduce your plastic. 

Try to follow those steps and show the change. 

Wait wait. Where are you going? There's more to go. 

-Instead of using plastic toothbrushes use bamboo or wooden toothbrush. 

-Shampoo and conditioner bottles can be replaced with shampoo and conditioner soap bars. 

-Plastic tape can be replaced with decorative thread. 

-Loofah can be replaced with a wooden body brush. 

-Plastic straw can be replaced with steel straw. 

- Plastic polythene can be replaced with a jute bag. 

- Plastic wraps can be replaced with paper wraps. 

To get more info download this app- My Little Plastic Footprint (NOT SPONSPORED, just found this app interesting)

Be the change that you wish to see in the world and then the world will start changing seeing you. 

With this quote in our mind, I end today's part. We will meet next week on Sunday

Bye!!

Mr. Plastic is dangerous

Hello everyone!!! Welcome to Mr. Plastic. This is going to be my first post and today we are going to talk about Mr. Plastic's harmful effects.

Mr. Plastic- MAJOR THREAT TO ENVIRONMENT

In today's world, what do we see the most?? My answer is garbage. Huge amounts of waste have started piling up. That day is not far when we will be walking on the waste. Ewwwwwww. If we imagine it, it seems gross!! But you will have to get used to it. But but but if you don't want this to happen read all my blogs. Ok now, most of the waste generated is plastic. 

Why is plastic harmful?

-The first and major point is that plastic is non-biodegradable. Every single piece of plastic manufactured has remained on this earth. 

- Zoologists found that a bird 90 days old died because its stomach was full of plastic. 206 pieces of plastic. Many other migratory birds have swallowed plastic from the water bodies, land etc.  

 

- In India, a large no of cows have died because of swallowing plastic bags. The plastic gets choked in their respiratory system and ultimately they die                                                                                                                                                                                 

- If plastic is burnt, it releases toxic fumes and causes air pollution. 

- Many people dispose of plastic in water which causes water pollution and the drainage system and the sewage lines get blocked

- Most of the plastics cannot be recycled (thermosetting). Thermoplastics can be recycled but they are very costly.

Even if plastic is harmful, why do people use it?

- Non-Reactive

- Light, strong and durable

- Poor conductors of heat and electricity

- Inert to chemicals

- Cheap

Plastics are useful materials but still, there is a concern today about their increasing use as the disposal of plastics and be hazardous. If you want to save the environment by taking this little step forward for reducing plastic then do your best and obviously read my blogs to get the best information. 

https://youtu.be/mVgoSJAHMJU

Before saying goodbye, watch this video. Don't forget to like the video, share it and comment down below. Do subscribe to the channel.