Buying recycled products helps to save environment

By Erry Prabandari

YOGYAKARTA (JP): Handicraft items made out of recycled material has become a trend as more and more people have started to buy these elegant and environment-friendly products.

"I don't know why people love these recycled products. Maybe this is a result of the campaign to save the earth," said Dwi Widayanto, who runs a handicraft shop in Yogyakarta.

Her recycled products are being sold not only in Java, but also outside Java, mainly in Bali.

Her main products are natural-look boxes which come in various sizes, depending on consumers' needs. Buyers usually like to buy small boxes, which are made out of cardboard with attractive flower decorations made from spices and grain, to keep their jewelry in or other small things.

"One should be creative in making these recycled products because all kinds of materials can be used. Nothing is wasted. We decorate boxes with sea sand, cockle shells, clove, mace, cardamom, marigold, grass, lamtoro husk (Leucaena leucocephala), pandanus plaited mat, leather, banana trunk, tree bark and rope fiber," Dwi said.

Bigger boxes are usually used to put tissues and cigars in. The most expensive boxes are made of tree bark.

"It is rather difficult to get this material (tree bark) because we have to buy it from traders in Kalimantan," Dwi said.

Originally, the tree bark is white, but Dwi gives the bark attractive non chemical colors to make the products more interesting.

In the coloring process, she uses natural dyes. For instance, she uses edible leaves such as katuk and suji leaves to obtain a green color. She also blends betel leaf (Piper betle), areca nut (Areca cathecu), gambier and lime to achieve a red or orange color.

"You see, Indonesians like bright colors such as yellow, red, green, blue and purple, but foreign tourists love broken white or earth colors such as brown and black," Dwi said.

In her business, Dwi hires 15 young girls to make the finishing touches.

Dwi said it never crossed her mind that she would earn her living by making recycled products. Creating various products from recycled materials used to be just a hobby to pass her leisure time, she added.

Apart from creating boxes made out of carton and tree bark, she also makes boxes from mahogany and teak byproducts.

In her shop, Wida Florist, she sells each box at between Rp 10,000 to Rp 50,000.

Apart from boxes, she also creates photo albums and flowers from recycled materials. For the photo album, she uses banana trunk (Musa paradisiaca), beach hibiscus leaf (Hibiscus tiliaceus), water hyacinth leaf (Eichornia crassipes), cloverleaf, sisal hemp, bamboo leaf (Bambusa vulgaris) and jute.

"People are surprised to find out that I create this wonderful album from thick carton paper, scrap paper and rice paper," Dwi said.

For colorful flowers, she will need, among other things, corn husk (Zea mays), fragrant root (Vetiveria zizanides), mace, cocoon, palmyra leaf and marigold.

Her shop also provides potpourri from dried flowers, such as rose, jasmine and other fragrant flowers. And to add sensational fragrance to her products, she adds aromatic oils, such as orange, lavender, sandalwood, lemon, narcis, coconut, vanilla and cherry blossom.

As some of her customers also love earthenware or porcelain vases, she combines the flowers with beautiful vases from the inner part of rattan. "This material is very flexible since it can also be used as a flower stalk," Dwi said.