Shopping Green

Organised by the Centre for Environment Education (CEE) on behalf of the Ministry of Environment Forests,Green Haat is an initiative to showcase the forest heritage—India being the global host of the World Environment Day this year.

The 53 stalls put up by various self help group,NGOs and state forest federations have on display products made by people living in forest and tribal areas. The aim is to give artisans a platform to share their skills and to provide them “livelihood opportunities through sustainable utilisation of forests”. Products offered at Green Haat are non-timber and handicrafts.

Sutra Handicrafts Private Limited,which is a part of the foundation of micro,small and medium enterprises (MSME) clusters,has put on sale earrings and neckpieces made out of various seeds. Sutra’s coordinator,Anil Khullar says,“The seeds we have used to make these accessories are used by tribals living in the forests of West Bengal. People from our team went there and gave them design inputs,trained and worked with them.”

Another organisation,Dhriiti,has on display plates and bowls made from betelnut. Price of the plates and bowls ranges from Rs 42 for a pack of 25 small plates and Rs 160 for a pack of bigger ones. Vaibhav Jaiswal,representing Dhriiti at the Green Haat said,“Leaves of arecanut plants,which is a waste otherwise,is made useful in this manner,by converting it into plates which are eco-friendly. It makes the products useful for the customers also,its biodegradable,hygienic and microwave usable.”

Another organisation,Kriti,has exhibited file and box folders,colourful diaries,photo frames,greeting cards,notebooks and pen stands. All the products are made from recycled waste paper and cloth at the Kriti ecopapers unit in Dehradun, where Kriti has an all women production unit. Aanchal Kapur,the founder of Kriti,says,“Initiatives like these help in eco living and help create greater awareness about the need to protect the environment.”

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