One Natural Material, Many Uses
The plush green banana plantations near the villages of Dharsimel, Maninageshwar and Karnali at the border of Gujarat, produce plenty of fruits. Once these are harvested, the stems are rendered useless.
At Happy Faces Foundation, our endeavour is to utilise the stems of the banana plants into extracting its fibres, pulp and the sap to make beautiful handmade products as a part of our Zero Waste Initiative.
The outer bark - green portion of the banana pseudostem is peeled and the banana fibres are obtained from brown or the creamish portion of the inner bark of the trunk. After removing excess moisture, the fibre shreds are then combed, cleaned and dried. These fibres are then woven on a handloom to create products including home decor items.
- Highly strong fiber
- Mixes well with other fibers to form composites
- Lightweight
- Biodegradable
- Rapidly Renewable
- Water-resistant
- Flame-resistant
- Naturally beautiful
This activity has created a source of earning for the tribal women from villages in and around the banks of Narmada by providing equipment, training and workshops to create various handmade products out of these natural fibres.
