Election waste transformed into eco-friendly souvenirs in Kochi for central observers

Kakkanad: In a striking example of sustainable innovation, election-season waste, including paper used in polling booths and returning officers’ offices, has been transformed into handcrafted commemorative gifts for visiting central observers.

District Collector G. Priyanka presented these eco-friendly mementos to central election observers who arrived to oversee the counting of votes.

The initiative to craft souvenirs by repurposing discarded materials was undertaken by the Suchitwa Mission and Haritha Kerala Mission in association with the Bhoomithra Sena Club and the Department of Mathematics at St Teresa’s College, Ernakulam. Waste paper, sewing-related scraps and water hyacinth collected from green booths were among the materials used.

The collected materials were brought to the college laboratory, where they were processed into pulp using machines and converted into thick handmade sheets. These sheets were then printed with the Preamble to the Constitution before being presented to the observers.

Central observer Preetam B Yashwanth received the first of these souvenirs.