Trendy cloth bags find many takers

Hyderabad: With the aim of reducing use of plastic bags, an NGO 'Kriti' has come forward to promote cloth and newspaper bags.

It not only provides employment to women but also involves them in the making of cloth bags. The NGO that started 2009 has more than three community production units in the slums of Tolichowki and Film Nagar.

Speaking to The Hans India, Himani Gupta, its founder, said, "We make a wide range of jute, cloth and newspaper bags and provide customised bags based on the user requirements. We have more than 50 women working with us for more than five years now."

These women have been trained to make paper bags out of the recycled newspaper. "These paper, cloth and jute bags we make do not just provide livelihoods to the women but also save our environment and are the best possible alternative to get rid of plastic in our everyday use," added Himani.

The amount collected from the sale is given to the homemakers associated with this initiative. People think that cloth bags are expensive but it is a one-time investment. The cloth bags range from Rs 50 to 150. They not only sell bags but women purses and hand bags.

The NGO trained women on traditional hand embroidery techniques such as kantha work, appliqué, banjara embroidery and mirror work. Around 25 artisans regularly work with us and add beautiful embellishments to our sarees, garments and bags.

They put up stalls at corporate offices such as Infosys, Microsoft, Google, Wipro, D E Shaw, DuPont and others. Sreelata Chebrol, co-founder of Kriti said, "Our water bodies are getting contaminated with plastic pollution.

This cleanup effort is happening due to efforts of local residents, school children, NGOs and environmental activists. We urge GHMC to stop the dumping and help in cleaning our lakes." -TS