Greenhouses made with plastic waste in Ladakh | Fusion - WeRIndia

Ladakh is one of the coldest places in India. Yet, several tourists visit this place due to picturesque landscapes.

89 per cent of people here are farmers. It is a common practice to grow vegetables in a greenhouse in Ladakh. This is due to the drastic drop in temperature.

Greenhouses capture the heat and make it possible to grow crops even in freezing temperatures.

Thus, the crops are grown in the greenhouses in favorable climatic conditions throughout the year.

In this context, a social enterprise, Agrow builds greenhouses from the plastic waste for about ₹25,000.

Agrow uses around 8,000 plastic bottles to build each greenhouse.

Eco-bricks, plastic waste, sand and fodder are stuffed in a plastic bottle to build a greenhouse.

The first three feet of the greenhouse is made with sand-filled plastic bottles and the remaining structure is made with eco-bricks.

Natural earth plaster is used to plaster one of the walls and for the remaining sides, plastic bottles are used.

Each side has a double layer and wood structures are used for roofing. A UV sensitised polythene sheet is used to cover the south side.

Agrow started their first greenhouse using a greenhouse model selected by IIT-Mandi incubation centre. They will get more funding to improve their greenhouse.

Their greenhouse is a combination of a solar greenhouse and trench greenhouse.

A plastic sheet will be used to work like a solar panel. This sheet converts the solar energy to heat energy which can be absorbed by the soil and plants in the greenhouse.

They dig the greenhouse three feet depth like a trench greenhouse.

Black paint will be used for the north-facing wall to absorb maximum heat and the remaining walls will be painted white.

Agrow hopes to grow tomatoes in these greenhouses. Normally, it is very difficult to grow tomatoes in a cold environment but all kinds of leafy vegetables can be grown in these greenhouses.

Image Reference: Thebetterindia