Architect gets creative with discarded tablets, makes accessories out of it

Recently, she made beautifully handcrafted accessories from discarded pills. “A friend of mine gave some tablets last year. Fortunately, I didn’t come across any situations to use them. While cleaning the room, I stumbled upon the tablets. But it got expired two months ago. I was reading about how to discard tablets and came to know that tablets weren’t supposed to be dumped in general waste but had to be given back to the pharmacy where they will get it safely disposed. But the crafty mind of mine wanted to try something new and hence I came up with a few accessories made of tablets. I have created rakhis, earrings, finger rings, multipurpose decor items, art pieces and bookmarks,” says Mithuna, who is now doing her final year Ph.D. in Architectural Acoustics.

The 25-year-old says that she understood the importance of sustainability from her mother. “I grew up watching my mother leading a responsible life. If she gets something that can be repurposed, it will never end up in a dustbin. I imbibed certain qualities from her,” she shares.

Talking more about her ‘pill’ series, Mithuna tells us, “While reading about tablet disposal, I understood that it is toxic in many ways if it ends in landfills. Many people don’t know that we cannot dispose of tablets just like that. The safe way is to give it back to the nearest pharmacy where they will dispose of it safely. Well, if you are creative, then you can make things like these. One doubt that would arise in many will be whether the tablets get dissolved or not. I have given a waterproof glue coating for the tablets to avoid them from dissolving and coming in contact with the skin. I thoroughly enjoyed this attempt of making art from expired tablets. As much as I hated the sight of tablets after certain incidents in my life, it was fun to let go of my hatred and explore different things with them,” remarks the zero-waste maniac.

Mithuna stresses that giving a purpose to an existing thing is one of the best ways to handle sustainability. “We need to maintain ecological balance. We have already polluted seas, air, etc. It is in our hands to save the resources,” she sums up.