From plastic waste to stylish bags

We have often heard about ban of plastic and also instructions given about how plastic can cause problems to the environment, and reuse and recycle are big concepts in conservation.

Founded by two young people Amita Deshpande and Nandan Bhat Aarohana, an NGO Aarohana Eco-social Development is turning plastic trash into colourful stylish bags that come in many sizes and hues. They were recently showcased as a part of Dastakar exhibition in Hyderabad.

Amita who has been working with sustainable development and corporate social responsibility for eight years and Nandan who has a decade of experience working with the business development and procurement sectors of various companies are behind project Aarohana. Nandan shares, “Aarohana is a social enterprise which works with two basic missions. One is that we are trying to conserve environment by reducing waste and the other is to provide livelihood for people. We are currently working at Dadra and Nagar Haveli which is a union territory of western India.

Aarohana creates utilitarian bags and purses that are bright and colourfull. “We tie up with a few waste pickers who segregate the gift rappers, biscuit packets, carry bags, chips packets etc., and give them to us. We take it to our village and give to the people who are working with us for livelihood. The first process is that we wash the plastic and sanitise, and then dry this plastic material. The complete process is manual; no machine is used, and no energy is been consumed. We then make them into aesthetically attractive bags of all sizes and in different models. The same bag that was in the garbage can be used for a longer duration of time like five to ten years. These bags are very steady, and nothing happens to them.”

Around 18 women and 5 men work with the NGO and it approximately takes close to one and a half day to make one bag, depending on the size. And the bags are made in bright colours, some of them are glittery and trendy. Is glitter added to the bags to give it a shine? Nandan says, “No these are all the original colours of the plastic; we do not add anything to give it a look.” Aarohana sells bags by participating in various exhibitions. “We are seen in lot of exhibitions every month. We have an online portal www. aarohana.org,” he adds.