BRIQUETTES MADE OF WASTE INSTEAD OF EXPENSIVE FIREWOOD
A great recycling idea: making briquettes out of paper waste and sawdust. This means that Shanti can save money otherwise spent on firewood. Precious wood is better used for carpentry work than landing in the stoves. Gas in bottles is unaffordable and costs more than in Europe.
It is fairly easy to create these briquettes.
Various embassies, diplomatic representatives and other institutions send their paper waste to Shanti. Documents are already shredded, while newspaper and cardboard must be torn into strips. The women at the clinic do this leisurely and at a relaxed pace on the rooftop terrace. Those who can read browse a little in the newspapers and magazines, and it's best to chat with others during this kind of work.
Together with sawdust from the carpentry workshop, the shredded paper is soaked in water and stomped into a mash with rubber boots.
The mash then comes into the press, where the water is drained with a hand-powered crank. This creates “doughnut” briquettes, which are easy to hang up and dry. In the hot tropical sun, this takes only a few days. At Shanti, these briquettes are made in advance and stored so that there is always sufficient fire fuel for the ovens.
The same method is used to make briquettes in the branch station in Budhanilkhanta.