Team ‘Powerhouse’ Introduces a Cheaper and Sturdier Substitute for Plastic Carry Bags
31-Aug-2020
For long Innovation has been associated with disrupting ideas that change or shatter the course of current inventions, but through the Social Innovation Program Sahyadrians are encouraging systematic as well as thought provoking Innovations rooting from Community understanding of issues.
At an early stage of the Engineering Course, the program offers a fresh perspective of approaching problems and puts weightage on the concept that goes into pitching these ideas, hence focusing on the quality and understanding of the problem over solutions.
Team ‘Powerhouse’ with members Gautham Ghetia, Sanmith Pujari, Ravijna R., Keerthishankar Punchithaya, and Gayathri Devi K. of ‘B’ Section was inspired by their observation of excessive use of one-time plastic carry bags. Due to the low cost, ease of manufacture, versatility and imperviousness to water, plastics are used in a multitude of products of different scale and have prevailed over traditional materials.
The team sought to change that and came up with the idea of Plaskick, literally making justice to the name, by introducing a cheaper and sturdier substitute for plastic carry bags. During the course of the Program, the team visited a Skill Development Centre which added another perspective of indulging Women and Homemakers towards this cause, adding economic value to these communities.
Plaskick brings together Women Communities and empowers them with a simple cloth bag design which can be made using old used Sarees hence up-cycling and promoting the shift to eco-friendly carry bags. The profits made using these cloth bags go back to these communities hence empowering and reducing the use of one-time plastic bags.
The idea is in its prototype stage and the team is looking forward to implementing it.
