Hyderabad: After the bus shelter made of PET bottles in Uppal hogged limelight, here comes PET bottles and cardboard furniture from 'Bamboo House India', a city-based firm that builds houses out of bamboo and recycled waste.
The team collected PET bottles from scrap dealers and built chairs that it intends to donate to government schools.
The artisans took two to three days to build a chair of 200 pet bottles. Prashant Lingam of Bamboo House India explained: “We used 200 bottles, each costing '1.40. The main challenge was to provide a back-rest, hand-rest and strong base.
This is because kids spend more than six hours at school and would need back rest. To build the chair, we used a binding wire, mainly used in the construction industry.
The bottle mouths were cut open and two bottles were fitted into each other, to give it a strong base. We also used a wire to tie them. To ensure that the hard material does not hurt kids, the chair will be covered with jute cloth and cardboard.”
The team has built two pet bottle chairs and is exploring different techniques to make it a comfortable seating. It is using disposed cardboard as seat. The chairs are yet to be given to a school for testing. As the artisans are still getting used to the technique, it’s taking them 24 hours to build a chair. The chair is able to withstand a weight of 50 to 60kg.
The durability of the chair will be for a year. “We are looking for corporates to buy these chairs and donate them to government schools.
The major challenge is the artisan fees, though the material is cheap. The making-cost is high, added Mr Lingam.
