India's jewelry sector has more glitz because to eco-friendly materials.
Source: https://india.mongabay.com/2023/05/eco-friendly-materials-add-bling-to-indias-jewellery-market/
Author:Tazeen Qureshy
As a teenager living in Odisha, Priyadarshini Das always had an eye for creativity. She would pick up seeds, bamboo branches and any other natural materials available around her house and make earrings and accessories for herself. Priyadarshini would wear most of her creations and occasionally gift them to a friend. However, with time and other responsibilities, this hobby faded, until it was re-discovered six years ago by her husband, who chanced upon a bamboo earring she had designed.
“My husband, who works in the fashion industry, was impressed with the design and encouraged me to start again,” says Das. “I had been a homemaker all along and was reluctant to start something new but took it up upon insistence of my family. I stad making jewellery from mostly bamboo.”
Since then, 2017 to today, Das is a well-known name in Odisha’s eco-friendly jewellery sector and has established her brand called ‘Ecodarshini.’ People call her the ‘Green Queen,’ and she sells fashion accessories made from bamboo, golden grass, waste wood, palm leaves, betel nuts, handicraft fabric and seeds that are not perishable. The colours used in the jewellery are also organic and she ensures minimal waste in the making of a product.
In India, jewellery is synonymous to gold, diamond and silver. But there is a growing consciousness towards eco-friendly and sustainable jewellery which has resulted in several local and international brands, with environment-friendly statement fashion pieces, mushrooming in the country.
“The only drawback is that the process of making jewellery from bamboo takes time,” adds Das. “We have to soak raw bamboo in water for a week and then boil it in lemongrass to remove the stink. Once this is done, then we proceed with bamboo cutting and designing. The cost we incur is only for the labour and time.” Das also conducts training workshops for women of indigenous communities, to help them become financially independent.