Someone very wise once said,“A worn out newspaper can last forever!” This is a brave statement to make in a world where the tap root of consumerism lies in greed for more and wastefulness of both natural and man made resources. The question to ask really is just how much greed can the planet accommodate? How much do we need to feel sated?
Are we on the edge of self-destruction because we can’t stop consuming wastefully, heedlessly? Refreshing that one of the premier standalone restaurants in Bangalore, Olive Beach that for years has organised a grand flea market offering luxurious consumables has reinvented its credo by turning it into something called The ReFlea. On November 9, 2011, Olive Beach (from 6:30 pm to 11:30 pm) will not just brim over with designer signatures like Anshu Arora Sen, Julie Kagti, Devika Krishnan, Jenny Pinto but will also throw open its blue doors and pebbled courtyards to self-help groups, NGOs and nascent designers who will display conscientious consumables like bags, baskets, jewellery, footwear, trinkets, greeting cards, paper products, stoles, lampshades and more.
From Auroville, comes the creative initiative, Wellpaper, with a range of woven baskets, tea coasters, jewellry and mats made of newspaper while designer Anshu Arora Sen will display her brand Small Shop’s recycled products created from plastic straws and tin cans. Jugaad from Delhi will display opinionated jewellery created from waste fabric along with patch-worked fabric bags. Anu Woman’s Unit will display bags and baskets made from discarded tetra pack cartons and cement bags.
Creative Merchandise Innovation will present bags, belts, footwear and furnishings made from rubber tubes and leather. The Kirana Self Help Group is hoping to sell handmade paper products, paper jewellery, notepads, greeting cards and gift envelopes while Arun Desai will offer toys made from waste materials.
Jenny Pinto as usual creates her signature paper lamps from waste agricultural fibre and designer Julie Kagti displays patchworked and appliqued clothes and stoles. Poonam Kasturi is already well known for her Daily Dump initiative that helps people to learn composting at home. She brings with her, a selection of children’s books about the concept of recycling as also some organic cleaning products that help recycle grey water and keep groundwater safe.
Not all of these objects are truly useful. Some will be quirky, cheeky and witty collectibles but not one of them will be wasteful. The ReFlea is part of the very first Bengaluru Recyling Habba 2011 being held in Bangalore, currently. The Bengaluru Recyling Habba 2011 (www.swmrt.com) has been organized by the Solid Waste Management Round Table Bengaluru (SWMRT) and is supported by the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board (KSPCB), BBMP and the Karnataka High Court Legal Services Committee. The purpose behind the event is simple. It is time to reduce wastefulness, to recycle and reuse what we can to preserve what it left of our planet.
Olive Beach is at:
No 16, Wood Street, Ashok Nagar
(Off Richmond Road),
Bangalore
For more information, call: 41128400/ +919945565483