Basudevpur: There is money in ‘‘green waste’’ and if one knows how to tap it, one can reap benefits. A couple in Bardhana Pokhariadai under Basudevpur Municipality in Bhadrak shows the way.
Sushant Das and his wife Tipri have collected sticks and leaves from date palm trees and turning them into brooms and other usable household items a cottage industry.
“We collect sticks and leaves from date palm trees. The sticks and leaves are woven into brooms. This work has been our livelihood. No work is small. It is your attitude that will give you sources of livelihood,” said the couple.
Sushant said, “I move from village to village as part of a survey and identify date palms. Then I talk to the owners of the trees to haggle rate for the leaves of a tree. I collect the leaves and bring them home.”
Then, the collected date palm leaves are sun-dried before they are cut to different sizes. Bunches of leaves are bundled together to make brooms. “One broom is sold for anything between Rs 15 and Rs 20 in local markets,” he added.
Sushant also sells brooms in the villages. The couple has two daughters and a son. With their earning, the couple educates their kids. Son Bapun is in Class VII while daughter Rupa is in Class V and Purnima in Class-II.
“With our meagre earnings, I fail to bear the cost of my children’s education. Now, the problem is, date palm leaves are not adequately available in the area. So broom making has hampered,” lamented Sushant.
The landless family resides in a polythene sheet-covered shanty. He urges the government to provide him a house.
PNN
