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A teacher in Jammu creates vertical gardens using plastic bottles

Jammu, 17-September-2020

Plastics are known as one of the biggest enemies of the environment. But one Jammu resident and environmentalist has offered a creative way of planting trees with help of plastic bottles. Dr Nazia Rasool Latifi has started plating vertical gardens using old plastic bottles as pots. The idea is both cost-effective and creative way to handle solid waste management.
According to Latifi, the garden helps her reduce her stress level. It also adds to the city�s beauty.
�Vertical garden not just reduces environmental pollution but also benefits the nature in many ways. The method helps to conserve water as the plants are vertically arranged to ensure minimum wastage of water,� Latifi said.
Latifi was inspired for this project after attending a seminar. She says that her love for nature and passion to create led to this idea. She created the vertical garden at a Government college for women in Gandhi Nagar, where she was also a teacher. Later, she created similar vertical gardens at Police Public School as well as the University of Jammu. After the word spread, many organisations have approached her, she admitted.
The bottles are made more presentable by painting illustrations like cartoons or abstract art over them. The set up can be put along any wall or surface, held together by scaffolding. A system of drip irrigation ensures the plants are well-hydrated. Latifi says COVID-19 pandemic has been tough on everyone. Creating this garden or practising gardening can be a good source of stress reduction. It can also be used as a source of income, she tells her students.
Professors and teachers from the schools and colleges mentioned above have come out in support of the concept. They appreciate this method of gardening as well as the message it sends out �conservation of resources and managing waste. This can also be used to inculcate an eco-friendly attitude in the students.
According to Raj Kumar Rampal, a professor, there is a lot of scope in this concept. Not only outdoor boundaries and walls, but this concept can be brought indoors to add a healthy splash of green and fresh and healthy environment for indoor offices.