Reducing stubble trouble
Meet Anushka Ramesh, a high school student at Amity International School, Mayur Vihar, a leading school in India’s capital New Delhi.
An effervescent teenager, who when not in school loves to bake and read books under a pink sky amidst serene hums of Novo Amor on the side. Anushka has been associated with her school newspaper, The Global Times since middle school and is currently the editor-in-chief for the same for her respective school. Her journalism journey started in Class IX when she first became part of the global press in AIMUN (Amity International Model United Nations), in which she later enacted the role of a special and foreign correspondent in the subsequent years. She is presently the International Press head of her school’s MUN society and has been class representative of her school’s writing society in the junior years.
The story is as part of the World Teenage Reporting Project — Climate Champion Profiles
Interviewer Anushka Ramesh Class XII, AIS MV
Stubble or crop residue has become one of the biggest challenges for India. As scores of farmers burn this residue after every harvest, the pollution levels in the country, especially the northern areas hit an all time high. The repercussions are manifold — from smog in neighbouring regions to increased temperatures. This of course, is the problem. And like every problem this too had a solution, one creatively outlined by Raghav Pardasani, 18, a student at Amity International School, Pushp Vihar, New Delhi, India. He has found an answer to the problem by translating this crop residue into bags. But this is too put things very simply, for this simple approach has translated into multiple benefits. Read on to know more.
What is Carryubble about and what was your motivation to start this organization?
Carryubble is a non-profit organization with a two-fold objective. The first is to make recyclable, handmade bags from crop stubble which is normally burnt creating a huge amount of pollution. Second, to provide people an easy alternative to plastic bags. Ever since I was a child, I have witnessed and suffered the smog-like pollution that Delhi faces every winter due to burning of rice straw in its neighbouring states — Punjab and Haryana. At the same time, we are always reinforcing a plastic ban but never succeed fully as there is no proper substitute. This is why, I along with my friends, came up with the idea of Carryubble. By making these bags from crop stubble, we are also giving rural and urban artists and farmers a chance to earn additional income by assigning commercial value to rice crop residue.
What has been your biggest challenge during the project and how did you overcome that?
One of the main challenges was making the bag itself. It took me two or three months to arrive at the final prototype. It had to be aesthetic in design or people would not use it. My mom helped me in stitching the bags. Another important person in this journey was my residential society’s security guard, Pramod, who helped me make the ropes (bag straps) in an artistic manner. But my greatest learning during this process was that I shed a lot of my previous misconceptions about farmers. They are not irresponsible as I thought, but are forced to indulge in stubble burning due to several socio-economic factors like lack of loans and subsidies. This is why a new section of Carryubble was created called Stubble Trouble, through which we dispel false impressions and spread awareness about stubble burning.
Where do you source your raw material from and how do you process it to create the final product?
In the beginning, one of the helpers at school got us the stubble. When lockdown was imposed, my father happened to visit a region close to Haryana and he got us the material. Now, we have collaborated with an organization in Punjab to procure the raw material directly from source. For the bags, we make the base first and then a square interface with ropes which is then stitched to the base.
Is your young age a hindrance at all in what you want to achieve?
More than age, it is time management that really matters. When all this started, I was also preparing for SATs to be able to apply to universities abroad. So, I planned accordingly, whilstdevoting a few hours to Carryubble every day. I set tangible goals and this process of scheduling my day became an important tool to achieve my goals.
How did the collaboration with the women’s group, Shakti Shalini, come about?
In order to increase production, we would need more workers. This thought led to one of our most meaningful collaborations ever. Shakti Shalini is an organization that works with survivors of sexual assault and empowers them to become financially and emotionally independent. We will train women at Shakti Shalini in making stubble bags. All the proceeds from selling those bags will be given to them.
How has the journey been so far in the last 17 months?
The journey started out well. We were able to gather the required raw material. However, most of this is still unutilised because of the lockdown. Initially, we would create around 8 bags from 40 kgs of stubble, and Though the bags are not out in the market yet, I have given them to my neighbours and family members and the response is great. I am very excited to release these bags for sale on a grander scale. I am hoping that by October, we will have a good supply of stubble bags in the market.
So, the lockdown affected you adversely as well.
Well, we may not have been able to produce as many bags as we should have, but still this time has been a great learning experience. Our petition to the Indian government, for instance, received 3,500 signatures because of the Stubble Trouble outreach. We were able to mobilize a team of more than 40 classmates for this initiative.
Your other initiative Resinew is also working in a similar direction. Tell us something about it.
There are tonnes of stubble produced every year in Punjab and I realised that I needed the support of other like-minded organisations to put an end to stubble burning. There are several start-ups that are making cutlery or even producing energy using stubble. Resinew will help connect such start-ups in urban area with farmers to facilitate the sale of stubble. We are in the process of curating a large database so that we can execute this.
How do you come up with such creative names like Carryubble, Stubble Trouble, Resinew?
We wanted names that were catchy and quirky so that they could capture attention. I must give the credit for Carryubble to my teammate Tanya. Carryubble is a play between carry-able and stubble, while Resinew brings together ‘residue’ (crop) and ‘new’ ways to use the same.
How do you plan to increase the environmental and social impact of your initiative vis-à-vis the issue of climate change?
The only way we can make an impact is by scaling the initiative. We have partnered with only one organization right now, but I would like to increase this number much more in the future. Resinew is another way we have tried reaching our environmental goals because it helps us connect with a wider farmer population across Punjab and Haryana.
Your initiative has been awarded the Pramerica award. How does it feel to be recognized at a global level at such a young age?
I feel a great deal of pride and humility. Such a recognition really helps with the outreach as well. It reinforces a sense of credibility and encourages you to further pursue that venture because it shows that people have faith in your idea.
How has Carryrubble helped you evolve as a person, a student and a researcher?
Working with the security guard, Pramod, changed my outlook in life. Earlier, I used to take failure personally and let it impact my self-worth. In the process of making the bag several times till I reached the final prototype, I learnt something profound. Pramod taught me that unless you change the method you are working with right now, you won’t be able to reach the desirable outcome. He taught me that one had to unlearn certain things in order to learn successful techniques. That’s when I realised that failure is so important in the journey to success.
What is your message for people across the world for saving the earth?
Your actions matter. Earlier, I used to wonder if an individual, and that too a teenager like me, could ever make difference. Climate change is such a huge and nuanced issue, after all. But soon I realized that if you decide to take the first step, a single action can inspire several other people. So, my message is each one of us can and, is capable of, starting such a chain reaction.
