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auntityr.jpg RE-TYRE YOUR FURNITURE
Imagine an entire house with furniture made of tyres and tubes! Sofas, high stools, centre tables, office chairs, coffee bars, clocks, mirrors, painting frames – you name it, it’s all there with Rama Anand of RA Innovations. Rama came up with this brainwave six years ago when she was trying to dispose off four of her used car tyres. This type of furniture is cost-effective (almost half the price of wooden furniture), durable, strong and can last a lifetime. But furniture made of used tyres? Won’t that be dirty and smelly? Not really. They are first treated with chemical solvents to get rid of all dirt and then washed several times to do away with their rubbery smell. The result is innovative environment friendly furniture.

Environment friendly did you say? Well, getting rid of millions old tyres the world over is a big problem. They do not biodegrade quickly, occupy too many landfills and release thick black toxic fumes and tablefin.jpgchemicals into the air when burnt. Converting them into furniture kills two birds with one stone. After winning many awards, Rama is now trying to popularise the concept in public places such as playgrounds.

For more information, contact
Rama Anand, RA Innovations,
G 194, Western Avenue,
W-13, Sainik Farms,
New Delhi 11006,
Phone: 011-26514142/143

FUN SCHOOL IN SUMMER

Gandhi Darshan, New Delhi have been holding summer camps for schoolchildren for the past seven years in the months of May and June. They are held across the country in association with various groups and volunteer organisations. The activities range from group discussions, creative expressions workshops, developing leadership skills and value education. They are aimed at giving a new dimension to the learning of contemporary issues. Previous camps have focused on girl child rights, youth and violence, child labour, drugs, child abuse, problems of street children and environmental degradation.

This year, the theme was water, as the United Nations has declared 2003 as the International Year of Freshwater. There were six camps in all lasting three to five days and each batch consisted of 30-40 students. The event gave the children a hands on experience in journalism through a newspaper, conducting radio show at Indian Institute of Mass Communication and on comic-making with the help of various experts. It was all fun and learning for them.

 SAVING VRINDAVAN

The city of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh is totally dependent on the Yamuna and the traditional temple kunds water harvesting system for all its water needs. In the olden days, aquifers were recharged from these kunds and the water was pure enough for temple rituals. Sadly, that can’t be done today.

NGO Friends of Vrindavan is holding a workshop on July 5 and a public forum the next day on restoring the water heritage of Vrindavan. The workshop will cover: Active community caring for the Yamuna and her riverside architecture; Brahma Kund – revitalization of the traditional water harvesting systems and improving the management of garbage collection and disposal.

Contact:
Friends of Vrindavan, Gambhira, Jai Singh Ghera,
Vrindavan (UP)
E-mail: gambhira@vsnl.com2


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