12 O’ Clock (Part VIII)

By then Bittu entered the shop again, saying, “Excuse me, Didis.”

“I came back to clear one doubt. I have seen the saying, ‘Reuse, Recycle, Conserve’ everywhere. Does it mean we have to return to the same road on a bicycle? Do we have to waste our time that way?” He asked smiling naughtily, pulling up a chair toward us ladies, on his own. He also kept the flask on the counter, for the time being.

Sukhwinder told him, “That means we should reuse whatever we use, as much as possible. That way, we can conserve nature. We throw plastics anywhere we like. It chokes up our sewage system and the rivers and other water bodies. But, Tata Steels in Jamshedpur have used to make waste plastic generated in their city into roads.”

Bittu asked, “Is it possible for us to go there and give them all the plastic we have?”

Prem told him, “There is an alternative. Those who know how to make pillows can use old clothes at home and make small pillows or quilts out of them, stuffing the plastic inside. These pillows/quilts can be given to poor people or sent to people in the areas hit by natural calamities. The plastic inside can be recycled as and when the clothes get worn, by stitching another cloth on them. Similarly, we sell old newspapers and cardboard to the old paper mart. They are used to make paper and cardboard again, instead of cutting  trees again and again.”

To be continued…