Women Entrepreneur ‘Assembles Trash Treasure’ in Indian Assam Environmental News

New Delhi, India – At a time when the world is immersed in huge amounts of plastic waste and environmental branches, a woman in the northeastern Indian state of Assam has come up with a new idea to tackle a new problem while helping poor women make a living from it.

Rupjyoti Saikia Gogoi, 47, lives near Kaziranga National Park, the world’s main tourist attraction in Assam and the world’s largest single-horned rhinoceros, with thousands of exotic species of elephants, tigers, panthers, bears and birds.

In 1985, the national park was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Gogi and the women of her collective, the so-called Village Weaves, collect the waste left by tourists – plastic bottles, chips and water bottles -, wash and dry them by hand and create hand-made products.

Launched in 2004, the company has helped more than 2,300 women in 35 villages in Assam to date, reducing plastic pollution around the national park.

“Kaziranga is visited by millions of tourists every year, many of whom leave piles of rubbish,” Gogoi says.

“Despite the fact that garbage is banned, plastic bags are everywhere, not only in sight, but also dangerous for animals that drown.”

Her husband Binod works for the non-profit conservation of local wildlife and shares her concern about the threat that plastic waste poses to the environment and animals.

The couple said they had discussed the issue and “provided a three-pronged solution – to tackle waste, recycle in an environmentally friendly way and empower local women.”

Gogoi says he experimented with it months before he came up with a workable plan for the creative use of waste.

“In the beginning, I only used plastic, from which I made different objects. But it didn’t work. Then I experimented with other types of materials. In the end, it was only after mixing the plastic with the cotton yarns that I was able to create a durable and flexible fabric that was ideal for creating craft products. ”

Gogoi says he followed the simple manual techniques he learned from his mother.

“Handmade textiles are very common among Assamese women, especially in the villages. We have been training in this craft since we were six or seven years old and most of the houses have a loom made by local and abundant bamboo ladies, ”he explains.

Once the technique was improved, the self-taught artisan began sharing her knowledge with other women in the village of Bocha Gaon in the Golaghat district.

Word spread and soon hundreds of women joined its network, making it an intense operation throughout the state.

Today, hundreds of women make handbags, sheds, table mats, wall hangings, coasters, table covers, tea blankets, runners, and other things from plastic waste.

Their products are sold through Kaziranga Haat, a gift shop set up by Gogoi in his hometown in 2012. During tourism, women can earn about $ 150-200 a month selling their products through the store.

Over the past two decades, thousands of women have benefited from the Gogoi company. And they are not just women.

“Often whole families come together to collect waste, weave handmade products and do other related work to help earn money. For example, in my home, my husband, brothers-in-law, brothers, and mother help me not only to weave, but also to market products and other administrative work. They take care of my house when I travel to the workshops, ”he says.

Gogoi is now invited by state governments and private organizations to hold workshops to teach rural women how to turn garbage into a treasure.

“I have traveled through many Indian states invited to Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal and Delhi. It is a great feeling to be a teacher,” he says.

But there are also challenges.

The pandemic has disrupted all travel to Kazirangara while pedestrians were being reduced to tourism, greatly affecting the collective’s sales.

Gogoi says he now focuses on the profits of his small cafe – Roop’s Kitchen – which he directs as a side commotion to “get dizzy during hard times”.

Enthusiastic visitors in his cafeteria [Courtesy of Rupjyoti Saikia Gogoi]

The nine-seat vegetarian store offers an Assamese thali with four local delicacies and $ 3 breads.

There are also other problems with small artisans like Gogoi.

“We are struggling with outdated looms and we need better technology and modern looms to improve the quality of our products and increase productivity. Foreign tourists are really appreciative of our products, so there is a chance of higher sales and profits,” he says.

“Although I have written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have not heard from his office. There are also many central and state government schemes for artisans like us, but they never reach us in our indescribable villages.”

The activist hopes that after the end of the pandemic, the women of the collective will regain their lives and livelihoods.

Among the many women who have benefited from the Gogoi company is Debyani Sarkar, a 35-year-old who began learning the technique of plastic weaving in 2015.

“I do recycling and weaving in my spare time, because I have three small children. It helped me earn $ 150 a month, ”he told Al Jazeera.

“With income I am able to buy good food and school books for my children. I hope to do the same after the coronavirus disappears. “

(World Environment Day is celebrated every year on June 5)