Paddler gives second life for single use plastic

The tonnes of plastic waste accumulating in our dump yards or ending up in our water bodies made Kumaran to think of a way to extend the life of single use plastic. The geologist by profession, who also runs Paddle for Future, a program to connect people with the water bodies in their locality, decided to create stand-up paddle boards out of plastic, with the help of school children. 

“When I was conducting a workshop in a school, I had asked them to bring one plastic bottle from their homes. I had created the frame of the stand-up paddling board using PVC pipes. Then, we used the plastic bottles to constitute the base of the board, pasting it together with a strong adhesive. The bottles were closed to make the structure buoyant. We used up close to 80 bottles and then, I tested the paddle board 

made of plastic on water. 

A few interested students came along with their parents, to paddle in the board they had created,” said Kumaran, adding that he would be continuing this with more school children in the future. On the question of safety of these boards, Kumaran said that he first tested the board. “Anybody who paddles with us wears a life-jacket for safety. 

The holding capacity of the paddle board that we made is around 50-60 kg. It cannot handle anything beyond that threshold,” said the paddler. The idea is to reinforce the ill-effects of single use plastic among the students, pushing them to be judicious while using it, inculcating a behavioural shift. 

“The idea is to inspire the students. We want to extend the life of single use plastic, of which only 10% is recycled. The paddle board costs Rs 2,000 to put together and can be used for a year or so. Regular paddle boards cost anywhere between 40,000 and 3 lakh. 

While we cannot tackle production of these plastic, we can do something about disposing them effectively,” he said, adding that the single use plastic boards will be recycled completely after use.