The Upcycling event in Lucknow !

Green Living ~

I'm already a week late in reporting this beautiful event that took place in my city  but since it's so close to my heart , I just couldn't let it go without sharing  it here :)
The theme was 'Upcycling' and the event was conceptualised, planned and executed by two very enterprising girls Swati Seth and Shinjini Singh which resulted in an amazing event and an unforgettable evening for the Lucknowites :)
The words 'Recycle, reuse and reduce' seem to be the 'in-thing' these days. People talk about it a lot but I wonder if they do enough to make it a part of their day- to-day life. How much thought do they give before disposing off things that they don't need any more or simpler still, how do they dispose off their daily garbage ? !

Why is recycling important ?

For decades we have been creating toxic wastes and dumping it in our environment without realising the damage it's causing. It's not only industrial waste that is the culprit but also our daily waste ( plastic bottles, food wrappers, gadgets etc. ) If we do not take steps right away to minimize the damage we do to our environment, it will be too late to rectify it and the future generations will get affected. I believe much damage is already done but it's never too late to play our part in protecting our precious world and making it greener and less toxic.

Recycling - With recycling, we break down some portion of our waste into the original element  and produce new materials, new consumer products but often of a lesser quality. In this way, we can reduce harmful waste .

This particular event also talked about 'Upcycling ' which means to reuse discarded objects or materials in such a way as to create a product of higher quality or value than the original. By upcycling, you refashion an item and give it a better purpose.
Upcycling makes a positive impact on our environment because when you upcycle, you remove items from the global garbage stream and we should all play our part in recycling , protecting our precious world and making it greener and less toxic.
So, now why don't we move ahead to the main event and take a look at the what transpired there ! It took place in the verandahs and adjoining areas of the famous Habibullah estate , in the heart of Hazratganj.

 'Kala Srot' constructed this reindeer model out of waste materials and it stood right at the entrance to welcome the guests :)

 And some areas festooned with plastic bottles made pretty decorative corners  as well :)

 Some stalls and refreshment counters overtook the sprawling verandah.

 It was a hot day and this stall from 'The Cherry Tree' did wonders with their cool beverages !

The 'Sanatkada' stall was up with their eco- friendly products too :)

And so were some more .....

 Loved this stall where they made bags and purses out of discarded scraps of cloth. The result was a fine mix of  vibrant colours in different shapes and sizes:)

 300 Stories , a lending library, had their stall up too ! You just have to get registered to have books of your choice delivered at your doorstep. How wonderful is that ! Perfect way to kill the upcoming Summer hols :)

The girls from La Martiniere girls' college had their own set of  pretty things on display :)

Okay, my favourite stall has to be the 'Ecomitra' one . I have a special corner in my heart for all things green and when it zeroes down to plants, I don't look else where ;)  The display of such lovely plants in equally lovely containers took my breath away. There was one growing from a shell too and then there was this planter shaped like a whale's mouth spewing happiness in the form of greens :)

 'The Color Caravan' had some amazing stuff too :) Loved those terracotta tea light holders :)

The baskets made out of waste material looked quite exotic too :)

Okay, time for the workshop ! I had the pleasure of conducting a workshop for kids on 'upcycling' and it turned out to be a fun filled, thrilling event. We gave the kids discarded jam bottles along with paints, stickers. paper cut outs , old beads, scraps of laces and cloth and told them to 'upcycle' them into pen/ pencil holders or lanterns. I was also happy to see a bunch of kids, from ' Swatantra Talim', a school for the underprivileged who attended the workshop and left us speechless with their creative skills.  There was a varied mix of kids from diverse sections from age 5 to 14 and they displayed some amazing creativity :)

They love getting dirty , don't they ?? ! ;)

Wasn't that lovely with a hint of patriotism too ? :)

So, that was what they made and took home with them along with a lesson on the importance of upcycling so it can be termed as one successfully creative workshop :)

There was a Farmers' market too where people had brought in the fresh produce of homegrown stuff, free from pesticides and other chemicals. It was up for grabs:) There was a counter where you could donate old clothes, toys , books etc. and there was also a counter where you could contribute something for the recent Nepal earthquake victims.  There was also a workshop where project KHEL gave some valuable lessons to girls /women on hygiene during Menstrual cycle and there was also a workshop for adults on the topic of  'gardening and composting' which made the entire event so complete and enriching. Unfortunately , I don't have any pics of the above mentioned events otherwise I would have loved to share them with you too :)

So, those were snippets from the Green flea market and the Upcycling event. It was a great initiative and I do wish we get to see more of such events in the days to come .
All efforts count even on an individual level so why don't we start right away if we haven't already ?? Recycling and Upcycling are a good way to start doing so :)