Plastic-free notebook covers trending in Kerala; Thiruvananthapuram native Mariel takes the spotlight

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Class 10 student Mariel Susan Alexander created 'Ease Wrap', an eco-friendly brown paper that eliminates plastic coating for wrapping books and notebooks. This also requires less time than wrapping books using normal brown paper. The 'Gen Z Nova' initiative, which started in February, has so far generated a revenue of Rs 10 lakh.

Mariel's invention was born out of the realization that plastic-coated brown paper was a health hazard for children and harmful to the environment. Instead of plastic, Mariel’s new initiative uses biocoating made from vegetable oil. Virgin kraft papers are used in this initiative. Like plastic, they won't get wet and easily worn out.

The Ease wrappers are sized perfectly for each book, like a box that fits a cake. You just place the book on top of it and fold the edges. While using brown papers, it takes ample time to wrap after measuring the size and cutting the edge using scissors.

The average brown paper used by 1,000 children contains about six kilograms of plastic. If we consider all the children in Kerala, that's 24 tons of plastic per year. Mariel Susan Alexander says Easy Wrap can make a divagation from this concerning practice.

Mariel (15), a native of Sreekaryam, is a student at Kazhakkoottam St Thomas Public School. A company called Varsya Eco Solutions, headquartered in Pappanamcode, helped with her initiative.

ByLin Medtech, an initiative started by Mariel’s mother Lini, also proved handy when it came to executing the project. Mariel’s father, Dr Alexander, is an orthodontist. Isabel and Michelle are her sisters.

These wrap comes in small, medium and large sizes. Priced from Rs 8 to Rs 12. It will also be available online from next week. The project was launched by Minister Muhammad Riyas and writer Benyamin at DYFI's startup event, ‘Mawazo’.