Made from newspapers, these eco-friendly bags are worth a try!
Newspapers, all-purpose flour or maida, stencil and jute strings: that's all they need to make 100% biodegradable dustbin liners or garbage bags. Who are they, you wonder? Meet Bengaluru-based 44-year-old Arun Balachandran and his wife Jyoti Pahadsingh, who have been making these eco-friendly garbage bags for the past three years. Arun's conscious decision to shift from plastic gave rise to this idea.
It was practically impossible to find an alternative to plastic bags. So he decided to make something himself and roped in Jyoti. Together, they came up with a bag made with several newspapers, maida (acted as glue) and stencil to make folds. Initially, the bags ruptured from bottom when wet garbage was put in but after several iterations, they can now hold wet garbage, that too for 2 days.
For a few months, the product stayed within the confines of their home, but on their house-help's suggestion they decided of turning it into a social enterprise. Moreover, Jyoti's participation at an IIM-Bengaluru program celebrating woman entrepreneurship formalized their project, which also got inducted in the reputed institution in 2016. GreenBUG's journey had officially begun.
"We had two clear goals: provide better planet for future generations by cutting down on plastic usage and empower underprivileged women," said Arun. He acknowledges that their bags are priced 3 times higher than plastic counterparts, but people overlooked that for a better future.
