THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: At a loss as to what to do with plastic liquor and soft drinks bottle? Here’s what the technology innovation team of the International Institute of Social Entrepreneurship (IISE) is coming up with - an eco-friendly floating island in the shape of a tortoise, complete with a bamboo cottage on top of Bamboo Ply boards. ‘’This is just a beginning. We will be focusing on innovations in the field of waste management and green clean energy soon,’’ said Alexei Levene, who works as a catalyst at the IISE. From bottles of White Mischief, Old Monk, Johny Walker, down to those of colas, fruit juices and mineral water, the island has made use of as many as 4,000 empty plastic bottles. ‘’We collected the bottles from the nearby bars, railway stations and even roads, tied them up together in gunny backs below the framework made of bamboo,’’ said S Shyamkumar, who works as a research fellow with the technology innovation ‘team of the IISE.Once the base was ready, they put up a platform made of Bamboo Ply surrounded by a green lawn broken by hollow bamboo containers, which will serve as garden pots. The green lawn is maintained on coir pith, and uses the principles of hydroponics which promotes the growth of plants with just nutrient solution and not so much of soil. The lawn has a boundary of coconut shells going all around the tortoise island.It’s not just the shape that reminds you of a tortoise, but the head and the tail portion of the island actually moves like that of a tortoise! That is, when the project is complete and done with and the island is moved right to the centre of the Vellayani Lake, very near to Kakkamoola and opposite to the Agricultural University.The hut that is being built on the platform is made of bamboo and reeds. Bamboo stems, in full and in split form, form the wall of the cottage, while the roof is completely made of reed leaves. Glass panes will be fixed between the bamboos to convert the cottage into a floating conference room. ‘’It can easily seat 10-12 people. At least a dozen of us checked on that,’’ said Shyamkumar, who designed the project.And, what’s more, they did not employ anyone to build this. Right from security staff Ramesh, electrician Ratheesh and chefs Joseph, Abin and Madhu, everyone at IISE was involved in the making of the floating island at one point or the other. The project is totally eco-friendly, except for a small hitch - the used plastic sheet that covers the base. ‘’Most of our students are visually challenged and once or twice when they went swimming, they banged against the bamboo poles of the framework that jutted out into the lake. That is why we had to cover it up with sheet,’’ explained Shyamkumar. While the team is busy working out the nitty-gritty, NABARD has come forward to fund the project, which will then be hopefully replicated by tourist resorts and tourism promoters for a greener, cleaner Kerala.
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