My colleague Vinod is an expert on sustainable tourism in India, he has studied the alternatives to plastics. He explained to me that after Brazil, India is the largest producer of bananas in the world…The banana is the fruit of a gigantic herb called ‘musa’. Here in India, beyond the fruits, the banana leaves remain used as plates and trays during festivities and in restaurants. Most of the time the rest of the plant will be thrown away, however banana stems contain fibres that once extracted can be used as paper.
The Eco Green Unit up in Coimbatore developed a portable banana fibre extracting machine. The stems are cut, divided into pieces, inserted into the machine and extracted as fibre. The Eco Green Unit defines itself as a service organization for rural uplifting in India. They supply the machinery to banana cultivators looking for additional income as well as self-help groups and market their banana fibre products in India and abroad. Starting with paper bags and the stationary products they are now with institutions such as the National Research Centre for Bananas developing an array of new products: from lamps to sarees.
There are tons of green waste we don’t make use of, do YOU have an idea to put one of them to good use?
Organikos 