In the Ayyampalayam area of the Dindigul district of Tamil Nadu, where most people are engaged in agriculture, a young man named Ilayayar Sivabalan is trying to make a living selling biodegradable paper pens. Sivabalam completed his mechanical engineering from a college in the area. After completing his degree, he did not want to work in private companies and was interested in starting his own business, however, the poor economic condition of his family prevented him from procuring any capital.
So, he thought of working as a service engineer in a private company and doing something else during holidays and in between work. Sivabalam, who was searching on the internet for what business can be done on a small scale, got information about pens that are made in a way that protects the environment, excluding plastic products.
Plastic, as we know, is detrimental to the environment and the majority of the pens used by us are made from plastic. Most pens are casually thrown away after they outlive their use and that is very harmful for nature.
Wanting to address the grave situation, Sivabalam decided to make paper pens. He took a loan with the help of the District Industrial Centre and started the work of making paper pens using easily biodegradable paper with seeds from various trees.
95 per cent of the paper pens he manufactures are made using biodegradable materials. He sells them for Rs 4-5 per pen. Sivabalam also visits the schools in the vicinity of his home and sells these pens, while explaining to his customers about using biodegradable products. Only the inner rim of the pen and the outer seed cap are made of plastic, the rest of it is completely biodegradable.
He said that while the revenue from this is not that high, it is enough to recycle the capital needed to produce the pens. He added that although he is also employed in a private company, his heart is in this business, as he has got a chance to do something for society.
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