Vikalp endeavor is to create an environment of positive experiences for every stakeholder within and beyond. The whole idea of creating the program, products and methodology was based on creating a system which reinforced social consciousness and positive experiences. This mantra was followed in every aspect irrespective of difficulties involved.
SOCIAL
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We incorporated the idea of Eco-Concern and creation of Livelihood for unskilled labour in our endeavor:
Eco Concern
It was a conscious decision to use recycled waste to create learning apparatus, despite unavailability of industrial processes and associated impact on the cost and time. The idea is to foster environment consciousness among children. While doing various activities with the apparatus children discover the use of easily available waste material and get sensitized towards the reuse of it.
We incorporated the idea of Eco-Concern and creation of Livelihood for unskilled labour in our endeavour:
- Kraft paper.They are made from natural, renewable resource. Kraft paper is frequently manufactured using high percentages of recycled fiber, is often reused multiple times, and is recycled more than any other material used in education industry today.
- Another material used sparingly is Recycled Polypropylene(P.P). It is commonly recycled and is the most recycled material of the plastic family. It has the number “5” as its resin identification code.
- Natural corn starch glueis used to bond the corrugated medium to the liner sheets. The glue is applied on tips of the fluting. The fluted paper is pressed to paper called liner. This is then dried under high heat, which causes the rest of the uncooked starch in glue to swell/gelatinize. This gelatinizing makes the glue a fast and strong adhesive for our production.
- Instead of alcohol or chemical we have used Soy based ink of sakata inx.Soy ink is a kind of ink made from soybeans. The purpose is to make it safe for children. Even if an child tries to nibble the products, it is not harmful. As opposed to traditional petroleum-based ink, soy-based ink is more environmentally friendly because while recycling soy ink can be removed more easily than regular ink from paper during the de-inking process.
Livelihood
The production process of creating the learning aid is mostly manual and machines are used only where manual process hampers the finish and usability of end users. After the minimal machine cutting, printing and folding; the assembling (75% of our production effort) is completely manual.
Un-skilled and semi-skilled women are employed by us to assemble the products, creating livelihood opportunities for them. We want the usage of the product to grow as much or to add more products so that we can create more opportunities for livelihoods.
This again was a conscious decision despite the increased cost, time and effort; as we did not want to lose out on opportunity to bring livelihood to women and economically empower the mothers of our future generation.
