SHILLONG: As many as four final-year BSc students, an all girls’ team of St Anthony’s College, competed against others from across India and South East Asia to qualify for the final rounds in the ‘Futures+ Challenge’, an international community-driven innovation programme organised by Sustainable Living Lab, Singapore and NIT, Warangal, a statement issued here said.
The programme aims to develop over 100 environmentally sustainable pilot projects addressing areas such as livelihood, food security and community health.
A team comprising four girls — Farhina Choudhury, Ananya Gogoi, Prerna Jain and Natalya Lyngdoh — devised an eco-friendly solution to develop paper from organic waste such as fruit and vegetable fibres along with betel nut husks, which are free from harmful chemicals and bleach.
The team aims to develop the eco-friendly product into a means of livelihood for the unemployed community in the rural parts of Meghalaya.
It may be mentioned gthat the girls attended workshops conducted by ‘Futures+’ for around two months and had also worked remotely from different locations amidst a global pandemic.