Buying recycled products helps to save environment

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.