Ruhani Verma, an Amritsar native, has constructed what she claims is India’s first carbon-negative public toilet out of 100% recycled or recyclable material using four lakh bags of single-use plastic.
MP Gurjeet Aujla and airport director V K Seth inaugurated ‘Toilet 01,’ dubbed Swachh-Alyaa, at the Sri Guru Ram Das Jee International Airport in Amritsar.
The 18-year-old, who plans to study sustainable architecture in the future, said that the central idea of this project is sustainability and that she aimed to build India’s first structure using environmentally friendly bricks. Around 30% of the brick used to construct the toilet is made of single-use plastic, while the remaining 70% is made of waste and silica dust. She went on to add that waste generation, particularly single-use plastic littered across the countryside, is a global concern, not just in India and the issue has only gotten worse with each passing year. Ruhani with this toilet aims to address this issue.
She clarified that no natural materials such as soil, silica, or water were used in the production of the Silica Plastic Blocks (SPB). They are entirely made of waste. All of the materials used in the structure are recyclable, and no cement mortar was used in the construction process. According to Verma, an SPB brick is three times stronger than a traditional red clay brick. The entire toilet structure was built in a modular fashion.
The colourful igloo-shaped structure in Amritsar’s International Airport parking lot appears to be an art installation with eye-catching graffiti at first glance. So, it’s difficult to believe that it also houses a public toilet. When you approach this opulent-looking restroom, you’ll be greeted with another surprise: a sign outside that reads, “Swacch-Aalay: India’s first sustainable toilet — A carbon negative structure- Ruhani Verma’s Initiative”.
Ruhani Verma said, if these plastic bags are lined up, they cover a distance of 150 kilometers. As the structure uses no water or cement to construct a carbon-negative building, interlocking bricks, similar to Lego blocks, were used to bind them together. The parking area at Amritsar Airport lacked toilets, so Ruhani thought it would be the ideal location for a sustainable toilet project. Ruhani’s School Director, Ayush Periwal, and Shridhar Rao, co-founder of SPB technology, helped her make it happen. V K Seth-ji, the Airport’s Director, also encouraged Ruhani to design her dream project.
