Postcard from Sikkim: Crisp, crackling book covers that are good for the environment

Schoolteacher believes he has found a solution for the discarded bags of crisps and other snacks that litter Indian streets

Pupils use scissors and Sellotape to make notebook covers from discarded plastic wrappers. Taniya Dutta / The National

From a one-storey home perched on a steep mountainside in India's small Himalayan state of Sikkim, the chatter and laughter of children fills the air.

They sit on the terrace surrounded by pairs of scissors, rolls of Sellotape, rulers and empty snack packets, carefully cutting them open into flat sheets that they carefully stick together to make bigger sheets.

Discarded packets that once contained crisps, biscuits and other snacks, litter cities, towns and villages across India, including in Sikkim, but schoolteacher Lomas Dhungel believes he has found a way to put them to use and out of the environment.

The science and mathematics teacher trains pupils at a government-run school in the village of Makha to convert waste packaging into covers for school notebooks under his Hariyo Makha, or Green Makha, project.

“The consumption of plastic items has been increasing in the state and we, being a small state, our recycling unit is not on a par with those in bigger cities. I am trying to upcycle multilayer plastic wrappers that end up in dustbins,” Mr Dhungel, 38, told The National.

The snack packaging is made up of three polymer layers: biaxially oriented polypropylene – the metallic film that retains the moisture content of the product; polyethylene; and thermoplastic resin.

These materials do not decompose and are as harmful to the environment as the polyethylene carrier bags that are now widely banned.

“I had an idea – why not try these plastic wrappers as book covers? The plastic is durable, it doesn’t get torn easily and it is shiny, which students love. And they can be reused every new session until they get completely damaged,” Mr Dhungel said.

Sikkim is a hilly, biodiversity-rich area and one of the cleanest states in the country, yet it struggles with solid-waste management because many of its landfills are full.

Although people are aware of environmental issues and have widely accepted the need to prefer paper, the scourge of plastic pollution remains.

Mr Dhungel launched his initiative in 2015, training pupils at his school during their activity hours and encouraging them to dedicate just 15 minutes a day to the project.

With time, more schools – government and private – have joined the initiative, which has helped to convert more than 85,000 wrappers into 6,000 notebook covers.

The pupils collect discarded snack packets and give them to Mr Dhungel. These are cleaned twice, carefully cut open, and then taped together into sheets that are used for book covers, with the shiny silver surface on the outside.

The project has also brought in revenue from sales to other schools.

“The first time, we earned 14,000 rupees ($170) by making book covers for a school after selling them for 10 rupees ($0.12) each. We made covers for 1,400 notebooks over two months and used the money for the admission of one student for a Bachelor of Arts course,” Mr Dhungel said.

“That gave us a sense of purpose because we never knew this idea could also generate revenue.”

Mr Dhungel said it was decided to use the earnings from the project to help students pay for their education. So far, it has helped 17 underprivileged students to secure admission to distance-learning courses from universities in India's capital, New Delhi. He personally funds half the fee.

The project has now been spread throughout the state, and Mr Dhungel believes it has the potential to be implemented on a national scale because it is sustainable, requires no investment and generates employment.

“We have 30 schools from six districts involved in the project. There are a lot of members from the education department, local councillors, local intellectuals and individuals who are helping us,” he said.

“I want this idea to reach every corner of India so people are aware that plastic can be used in this manner. It can be transformed into employment for self-help groups and generate small-scale industry.”

The teacher has also started upcycling partly used notebooks into new ones. So far, along with the students of elementary education at the District Institute of Education and Training, he has converted 100,000 blank pages into 1,000 notebooks that were sold for 60 rupees each.

“We found that there were a few clean pages and started the clean paper initiative. For every 100 copies sold, one student is helped with getting admission for higher studies,” he said.

At the mountainside house, Akriti Adhikari, 15, carefully cuts open snack packets and passes them on to two school friends, who then tape them together into sheets.

“I feel good because I think I am doing my bit to save the environment. It is our responsibility as citizens to keep the environment clean and plastic-free,” she said.

“It also helps that our notebooks look good and we don’t have to depend on dull, delicate paper sheets.”