Gifting the green way

Exciting presents

There is an unspoken understanding that you never go empty-handed to a party, especially if it is a special occasion. While there are plenty of stores in the city that offer an array of gift items, the best ones are always the ones you take some time out to make. This way, you are not only adding a personal touch to it but also being eco-friendly.

Keeping this thought in mind are a few Bengalureans who create the gift that they want to give their loved ones. They do so with eco-friendly products so that it can last long and be special.

Kanisha Gulwadi, a freelance content developer, makes envelopes and knits as well. She says, “I have only made these for my immediate family as their feedback is very important to me. My hard work to make these add that personal touch to it. Knitting baby products is my current big project. And since my children are in school, I collect the stack of unused pages from notebooks at the end of the academic year and use them to make gift cards and envelopes.” 

The cards she made were given to her children's teachers for Teacher’s Day. “My kids have also started using unused paper and a few other things we have at home to make handmade cards for their friend’s birthday,” she adds. Following this trend is also Alang Aier, a kindergarten teacher. She draws inspiration for her paper creations from her students. She watches their work and draws out a plan of how she can add to it and make it interesting. She says, “Garbage has a different meaning in my house. I pick up whatever I find interesting — paper, cardboard, thread and bottles — and use them to create something new. Apart from making baskets, flowers and pots, my latest project has been the paper dolls. I roll the newspaper in different sizes and stack them to make the dolls.”

She loves gifting these to people she is close to. “I think it is wonderful that you can make your gift unique. Whenever you visit their homes, you can see your work being displayed in their living room and that makes me smile. I want to explore more and see how else I can improve my work,” says Alang.

As adding one’s touch to their creation is the main agenda, Anne Rakesh of ‘Happy Knots’ uses organic cotton, wool and jute material to make dreamcatchers and earrings. She says, “Using jute to create something is very difficult but it has a good finish. It has a rustic feel to it and can be preserved for a long time. The dreamcatchers do take a long time to make but they are absolutely beautiful when finished. Since crochet is also in trend now, earrings made with wool adds a unique touch.”

Many of her customers buy these eco-friendly products to give at ‘sangeet’ and ‘mehendi’ functions or as return gifts. She says, “It’s great that these eco-friendly products are perfect for all age groups. I’m glad that people are opting for these because they are also consciously or unconsciously contributing to spread awareness. It’s turning out to be a colourful tradition now.”