Recycling is one of the best ways for you to have a positive impact on the world in which we live. Recycling is important to both the natural environment and us. Recycling is very important as waste has a huge negative impact on the natural environment. Harmful chemicals and greenhouse gasses are released from rubbish in landfill sites.

GV Dasarathi, a man with great visionary

Among the brick and cement houses that line this street, one house stands out. For, it is mostly made from trash. The house, aptly named Kachra Mane (Trash house), attracts visitors throughout the year. GV Dasarathi the creator of this unique idea calls it a ‘Kachra Mane’, which literally translates from Kannada into “Trash Home,” his house is literally made from trash that he has collected all over the local city. He strongly believes in ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rethink’ as his motto, plus his motive proves that conviction can build houses at half the cost of a traditional one. The house has been designed by the architectural firm Maya Praxis, with interiors by Vismaya Interiors.

The architecture of the house which is mind-boggling

Built in 2010, Kachara mane’s all window frames, staircase, cupboards are made from pinewood crates. Bathroom fittings are also old materials. There are no grills on the windows because Dasarathi wanted to avoid using steel. Thieves have nothing to steal, he says. No tiles are used anywhere in the house. The only flooring throughout the house is of cement. Bathroom fittings, kitchen sinks, and even glass windows have been taken from demolished buildings. The fittings for two toilets cost a total of INR 7000, whereas the cost for completely new ones would have been approximately INR 50,000.

Recycled Water

When we recycle, used materials are converted into new products, reducing the need to consume natural resources. Dasarathi has also taken strident measures to conserve water. 20,000-liter tank for rainwater which reduces consumption of municipal water to half, given Bengaluru’s rainfall pattern. When you recycle the water that you use in your area, this means that you do not have to take water from other areas. Many areas where pure water is plentiful are delicate ecosystems that suffer when their water is removed. When the water is recycled, it makes it easy for places like the wetlands to keep their water supplies.

Many times, recycling water not only prevents its removal from sensitive environments, but it keeps wastewater from going into bodies of water such as the ocean or rivers. Recycling water takes wastewater such as sewage and reuses it, instead of routing it directly into the nearest river or ocean where it could spread pollution and disrupt the aquatic life. Dasarathi tested the chemical impurity and bacteria in the water and found that while chemical impurities were less than the city supplied water, bacteria was more. He simply filtered the water using a UV filter and the water was perfectly fine to use.

How was it built?

The house was built about 2 years ago and it took just 7 months to build, with the cost being less than half of what a ‘conventional’ house would cost. Before construction, he spent a considerable amount of time researching on the internet, meeting people and sourcing material. The house is constructed on an existing building and makes use of the structure as it is, without any changes. Even a sloping roof is morphed into a flat floor using wooden planks – an idea which was stolen from a Japanese restaurant.

We all will agree on one point and that is whatever we are doing is doing for our future generation. But if we keep destroying our environment in this place nothing will be left for our future generation and everything we are doing for them will become worthless and pointless. Only recycling can help our future generation survive. So don’t waste a minute to take proper steps to recycle because every moment counts.