BENGALURU: A group of women in the city are making a livelihood by recycling waste clothes. The fabric that comes to them in the form of waste is then made into quilts, bags, yoga mats and such that are then sold at a nominal price.Shrinika outlet, formed by a group of underprivileged women and run by Aparna Vadiraj, founder of Ambari NGO, accepts donations in the form of waste and unused clothes. The outlet also conducts workshops for women in dress designing and earring making. It all started when Aparna, a member of Laghu Udyog Bharati wanted to do her bit to help women who work in small-scale businesses. “I had visited an NGO which was offering a platform for small scale women entrepreneurs through an outlet in Banashankari locality. I wanted to do something on those lines and started working towards Shrinika project,” says Aparna.
These involved women who were into tailoring, dress designing, silk thread jewelry, Tanjore paintings, kurtis, floor mats, knitted frocks, traditional langa blouse, stoles, torans and foot mats. With the help of AID, a trust for the weaker sections of the society, she determined to set up the venture. “I approached my friend and a senior journalist CK Dmello to rent out an outlet to display the products and she agreed to give a space in her apartment building,” says the theatre artist and financial consultant. “A beautiful quilt was stitched by one of our members of the outlet from dupattas. The customer was very happy with the finished product,” says Aparna. The shopped items are packed in a bag stitched from waste cloth.
The team also makes jute and plantain bark-based files to replace the usual plastic ones. Aparna has been approaching hospitals, corporate and government offices to replace plastics with these files. “Few of the hospitals have agreed to replace the plastic files with ours,” she says.
The outlet is located in JP Nagar - II Phase and the shop is open from 10 am to 7pm. For more details call 97390 16845.