Green Bazaar Comes to Town

Various workshops for kids and adults, organic produce fair and talks by experts will be held at RBANMS High School auditorium this weekend

BENGALURU: Can Channapatna toys be revived to appeal to a wider audience? How can we build retirement villages for our fast-aging population? Can video games teach young people to care about the environment? And can we grow affordable, pesticide-free vegetables in Bengaluru? These are some of the topics that will be discussed at the eighth edition of Green Bazaar to be held from 3 pm - 9 pm this weekend at RBANMS High School Auditorium and Grounds, Ulsoor.

The theme for this year is ‘Design Matters’. The bazaar will celebrate the importance of design by bringing consumers, artists, technologists, experts, citizens, designers and entrepreneurs together under one roof.

“It all boils down to design. If things are designed better, there will be less wastage. It just means using something efficiently. For example, furniture from recycled wood, solar electric vehicle, innovative bus shelters, footpaths for the visually challenged, etc. We will touch upon various subjects and stir dialogue on issues,” says Aarti Mohan, chief editor, The Alternative, an online platform, and organiser of the bazaar.

The fest will also feature a Design Hackathon, an event for student innovators who can get hands-on experience at using design to affect positive change. Other features include workshops, activities for kids, talks by experts and an open-mic session. Call 98864-00312 for details. 

Highlights of the event

• Sustainable products at the bazaar: The fair features farm fresh organic produce, gardening tools and accessories, upcycled jewellery, natural food products, children’s products and handmade fashion, home sustainability solutions and much more.
• EcoJam: This hackathon-style design challenge will bring together students, young professionals, social entrepreneurs, artists, design experts and NGOs to collaborate on projects that can transform the way we think about products and experiences today.

Workshops for Adults

• Dig Right In: ‘How do you design a self-sufficient food garden?’ by Priya Anand
• Mad about Bamboo: A DIY workshop on bamboo furniture where every participant makes and takes home a bamboo product.
• Sunny Side Up: All about rigging solar power inside your home.
• Have water, will grow food:  A workshop by Vinil Ratnakaran on how to set up an aquaponics system in your backyard, a process that helps reuse nutrient-rich water used for aquatic life, to grow food.

Children’s workshops

• Birds, Bees, Butterflies and Trees: A bio diversity tree walk by Eco Edu, a collective effort from a group of professionals.
• Tiny Tot Yoga: Yoga for kids by Souwmya Ayyar of Prafull Oorja.
• Arvind Gupta Toys: A workshop by Manish Jain where children can make their own toys from everyday waste materials and learn about how stuff works
• StoryKraft: Art’s Tales by Arthi Anand brings a session for children which combines the joys of storytelling with the creativity of upcycled craft making.
• Expert Talks and panel discussions: Saturday, 4 pm to 6.30 pm
• Greenproofing the Future: Prof Jaisim, one of India’s foremost green architects will speak on ‘Building for the present and the future’.
• The Zero Food Revolution: Bengaluru-based First Agro’s co-founder, Nameet V, will speak about ‘taking food from farm to plate sustainably’.
• Whose road is it anyway?- Alok Gupta, COO, Embarq India, an initiative that works with Indian authorities to implement solutions to urban mobility, will talk about ‘Transport in a Space-crunched Urban India’.