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About Natural Fibre And Ecofriendly Crafts
The products which are made of environment friendly materials are Eco-Friendly products. Generally the eco-products do not harm the environment in any form.Natural, eco-friendly products are safe for all as they are non-toxic and biodegradable.
Eco-Friendly Handicraft Items are of made of jutes, waste materials, handmade paper products, polywood products, fabric products, handmade greeting cards, recycled bottles, recycled products, biodegradable products, etc.
In the making of Handicrafts Items there is less use of energy. As the products are mostly made in homes.
These crafts are manufactured from natural extra products. These Eco Friendly Crafts can be shaped, moulded and turned into decorative items.
Sub Category
Rambaans is a variety of the sisal plant and grows abundantly in the lower hills of Uttarakhand. The leaves of the plant are long fleshly blades radiating from the roots. The glossy but stiff cream coloured fibre extracted from them is used, after processing and treatment, a similar process used for jute and hemp to make utility and decorative products. The fibre is bunched, rolled and braided into toys, rope, table mats, bags and hats among other things. It does not deteriorate if it comes in contact with saltwater. The villagers cook the leaves into a tasty dish. The fibre is extracted using a diesel decorticator. It is washed thoroughly, dried and bound into bales. There are around 300 species of the sisal plant but fibre is extracted only from some of them.
Sisal (AGAVE SISALANA) is cactus whose fibre has traditionally been used by local communities for making rope for animal harnesses and drawing water from the well. The succulent plant does not require much effort in cultivation and is grown as barriers around borders of farms. Woman artisans ware taught skills of plaiting sisal fibre and crafting simple products help in their income generation. The fibre, after being extracted from cactus leaves is cleaned, dyed, braided are coiled and stitched from edge to edge. Due to droughts declining the availability of the plant, the craft is not economically sustainable.
The banana plant has long been a source of fibre for high quality textiles. Banana Fiber is extracted from Banana tree bark. The trunk is peeled. Brown-green skin is thrown away retaining the cleaner or white portion which will be processed into knotted fibers. The fibers are extracted through hand extraction machine composed of either serrated or non serrated knives. The peel is clamped between the wood plank and knife and hand-pulled through, removing the resinous material. The extracted fibers are sun-dried which whitens the fiber. Once dried, the fibers are ready for knotting. A bunch of fibers are mounted or clamped on a stick to facilitate segregation. Each fiber is separated according to fiber sizes and grouped accordingly. To knot the fiber, each fiber is separated and knotted to the end of another fiber manually. The separation and knotting is repeated until bunches of unknotted fibers are finished to form a long continuous strand. This fiber can now be used for making various products. Following products are available in attractive designs of various sizes out of these fibers. • Coasters • Table Mats • Bags • Runners • Floor Mats • Home Furnishings
The Basketry of Kerala is largely made by the Christian communities of Ernakulam and Thrissur. Traditionally, however, it was the Parayas and Kaatakaras (literally, forest people) of Anapandan, a hill side near Thrissur who undertook the making of cane and bamboo baskets using plain, twill and occasionally the hexagonal weave. The products range from cane fishing baskets that are identical in structure, form and function to the ones made in northeast India to variety of baskets that are usually daubed over or smoked. Palmyra and arecanut spathes are also twisted to create efficient containers. The thick bamboo locally known as Mula and the thinner bamboo called Eeta are made into rough bamboo mats used as wall partitions and softer grass mats to sleep on. Kotta or rough work baskets with short handles are often reinforced with coir; vatti or neatly woven square baskets made with slim bamboo splits are used for shopping, storage as well as a makeshift vessel; murram or the winnowing basket is used to dry small amounts of condiments and edible matter.
Sheetalpati, literally meaning; cool mat, made of a locally grown reed is famous among the mats made in the state. It is produced in the northeastern district of Cooch Behar. The members of the Kayastha caste are mainly involved with this craft. The mats are called so because they impart coolness to the person sitting or sleeping on them. Product like mats, baskets, hand-fans and bags are plaited with thin strips of the reed. Dyed strips are added to create more patterns in the weave. The strips may not be long enough to last through the weave; so new strips are overlapped and woven in a way that does not require joinery. Coloured mats have traditional Bengali motifs. The quality of the Sheetalpati mat is judged by its glossiness, smoothness and fineness of texture. Apart from the thriving traditional market, the craft has also found a place for itself in the contemporary urban market. Sheetalpati reed mats are traditionally made at home by man and woman in a wide variety of patterns and sizes to supplement their income from agriculture. They are pliable and easy to fold and store, used as floor spreads for sleeping and eating meals on, and as prayer mats in shrines. They are popular in summers as mattresses as they are ‘sheetal’ or cool to the touch. The stem of the Murtha, a locally grown lemon coloured reed with waxy leave, is cut near the ground and skinned. The outer layer is made into strips of about 3mm and wetted before interlacing and plaiting them in an oblique manner. To finish the mat, the cuts ends are returned in to the weave diagonally. Motifs are woven by changing the pattern of interlacement and introducing dyed reed strips. The size of the strips and density of the weave determine the pliability of the mat. The mats were originally made in Bangladesh and are now being made in the villages by migrant families. Clusters surrounding katakhal also produce sheetalpati. The community has set up patikor society for marketing their products outside this region.
The Chhippa community is traditional printers of Jodhpur and Pali districts of Rajasthan. They use mud resistant printing technique with vegetable dyes to create densely patterned and richly coloured textiles that cater to the functional and sartorial requirements of many local communities. Although all the motifs are derived from vegetable and floral forms, each bears a unique association with a specific community, thus serving as a means of identifying weaver. This printing process called ‘dabu’ begins with the collection and storage of mud from the local pond, the wet mud is then sieved until it becomes a fine paste. It is then mixed with lime, gum, alum and jaggery. The fabric is then thoroughly washed to remove any starch and then dried. The printing is then executed by applying block dipped in dabu paste.
Bamboo handicrafts of Agartala are intricate and self consciously decorated. A wide range of screens, false ceilings, wall panels, plaques and planters are made of gossamer thin bamboo strips. Wall panels are made out of solid but thinly split bamboo that is pasted on plywood. Several containers are made by turning bamboo on a hand lathe. Traditionally, bamboo was used extensively to construct houses, fences, gates, wall panels; sieves, storage baskets and products for agriculture use. Local entrepreneurs have been practicing the art of fine bamboo handicrafts and goods made from loom woven mats that are specialty of Agartala. Tripura’s bamboo craft is pivoted on the technique of bamboo splitting done by hand with the help of a ‘dao’. Today, new machines are used for splitting bamboo at the common facility centers and training centers set up by the government. The most recent product innovation is the carving of bamboo roots. A number of craftsmen have taken up this work through the offices of the State Handicrafts Development Corporation in Agartala. Many new status and composite sculpted narratives are depicted in bamboo root carvings.
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