BANGALORE: “What is the use of a house if you haven’t got a tolerable planet to put it on”, questioned Henry David Thoreau. Putting this thought into action is Dasarathi (Das) G V, the proud owner of Kachra Mane. Yes, you read it right. His wife Riti and daughter Amala supported him in his endeavour to construct a house using reused materials. Located in Sadashiv Nagar, the house makes a loud statement. Das says, “People spend a majority of their savings to build a new house. They want the best of everything. The amount of cement and steel used for each house is too much. Why spend so much money in constructing a house that lasts for 3,000 years when you can build a house for half the price that lasts for 25 years? The intention might be to pass on the house to the next generation; but chances are that the buildings will be demolished to build a new one.”With this in mind, Das and his family decided to build a house that is cheap and saves resources thereby protecting the environment.On top of a constructed house, the family decided to build their house. The new house has a little over three feet brick wall, with wood and glass making up the rest of the structure. Das explains, “I looked for dealers who receive cargos from various countries. The deliveries arrive in pine wood boxes. I collected hundreds of these boxes and built my house with pine wood planks. This way, I saved lakhs of rupees on the wood alone.”Yet, the wood finishing does not give the feeling of living in a box, thanks to the numerous windows and generous use of glass. Das says, “Through the day, we leave the windows open. We enjoy the pleasant weather and the fresh air.” The glass that covers 20 percent of the house is also sourced from garbage. “I got the glass from demolished buildings. I was lucky to get a few contacts with engineers, before they demolished the buildings. They sold the glass to me at affordable prices,” he says.The family calls their house Kachra Mane because everything in the house is made from recycled or pre-owned materials, including the toilets, interiors and kitchen utensils. Das says, “We got the top brand fittings in our washrooms, which I collected from demolishing sites. The utensils in our kitchen is from a garage scale. The lamps shades are redesigned from broken furniture or dustbins. The washing machine, the refrigerator and the vehicles are pre-owned.” The money saved from recycling materials has allowed him to invest in a good rain water harvesting and gray water recycling systems. There is no sense of kachra (garbage) anywhere in the house. Instead, the house is beautiful and the glass walls give a sense of live landscapes of Bangalore making the views breathtaking. “I don’t know if this is the 21st century house, but it should be. People build houses to show their status in the society. A house like Kachra Mane saves the society,” he emphasises. A telling statement indeed.
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