No haste with waste

As part of the ongoing ‘Bengaluru Recycling Habba 2011’, the usual flea market organised at the venue made way for designers to showcase products made out of waste materials.

There were many interesting items like woven baskets, tea coasters, jewellery and mats made out of old newspaper.

Even the lampshades, hand bags and clutches made out of juice tetra packs and old cement sacks caught the attention of many visitors.

The stall set up by ‘Glasshopper’ pulled in a lot of youngsters with its selection of clocks, bowls, ashtrays and showpieces made out of glass liquor bottles. Said an excited Preetham, who picked up a beer bottle ashtray, for his home, “Who would have thought a simple beer bottle could be turned into an ashtray? I found this very useful and it’s a great way to recycle old things,” he added.

The exhibition was also an eye-opener for many of the visitors. Jenny Pinto created paper from waste agricultural fibre and turned it into a lampshade.

“It was interesting to see how simple household items can be reused in such a creative way. At the same time, one does feel the pinch on the pocket when the same junk items are sold with an expensive price tag,” said Tejas, another visitor.

The prices on various items were a bit steep and a few of the designers felt that this was needed because of the work gone behind the products.

Devika Krishnan from ‘Anu’, a women’s business initiative, sold bags made out of tetra packs and cement sacks.

 She said that the money was going to the ragpickers who made the bags. “It’s not like we get all of the items for free. We actually have to buy these used tetra packs from a college at Rs seven a kilo. The cost of making each purse immediately shoots up,” she adds.

In the end, the creativity shown by each of these designers at the stall was applauded by all.