KOCHI: Geetha Mani S, a native of Vattiyoorkavu in Thiruvananthapuram and a retired deputy chief editor from Legislative Assembly, claims that all the items we discard at home can be made into something unique. The hobby she started a few years ago has now become a zero-waste pet project she runs at home.
Opening up about her creative journey, Geetha says, “My two children have settled abroad. I used to get bored at home. Two years ago, one day I accidentally saw a DIY video on making decorative boxes out of discarded cardboard. This piqued my interest. Ever since I have been converting waste in my house into upcycled products,” she says. She learns a few of the tricks from YouTube and adds some of her creativity now and then.
Anyone entering Geetha’s house is welcomed by a doormat made using her thirty-year-old silk saree. The walls are adorned with painted hanging storage bags decorated with beads. It’s almost hard to believe that these were made using an empty 5kg matta rice cover. The dining table is arranged with a flower vase made from folded newspaper, coloured and decorated using groundnut shells and empty medicine strips.
Geetha is often teased by her husband, Bhuvanendran Nair, a retired sub engineer at KSEB, about how she never leaves waste at home. She makes artificial brinjal using eggshells, beauty boxes using folded newspapers, small hand-held baskets from paper cups and wool, dolls from socks and old uniforms. “It depends on my mood. Sometimes, I take a day, sometimes it is a whole week,” she says.
Geetha adds that her focus is more on upcycling than on an item’s aesthetic value. “There were bundles of used clothes that my children grew out of. Earlier people from orphanages used to come and collect them, but now due to Covid protocol, they stopped. So, I made doormats using old leggings, t-shirts and old sarees. My handicrafts are not for sale. I give it to my family and friends. When they come to know they’re upcycled, most of them are surprised. I inspire them to be sustainable too,” she says.
It amazes one to know that she has turned even the cloth cover that the government food kits come in, into decorative flowers. “If you wash and dry them, they become bright and clean. I only buy glue, tape and decorating beads online,” says Geetha.