Vellangallur: Parayakattu Ravi, a native of Vellangallur, founded an eco-friendly alternative for plastic. He made beautiful bags with areca leaves which are found aplenty in his village.
“Even after the government banned plastic, people are using it and littering public places. I decided to make bags out of areca leaves as a replacemnt for plastic. During my childhood, we purchased fish and groceries on baskets made of areca leaves. It inspired me,” said Ravi.
He used areca leaf fibre to knit the first bag. But after making it, he found it not that impressive. So he used cotton threads to make it beautiful with attractive designs.
"I converted it in the model of a beautiful vanity bag. As the areca leaf product got a stunning makeover, its demand also increased,” Ravi explained.
Ravi has been engaged in grow bag making also. He noted that the used areca leaf bag can be converted as waste bins or grow bags.
Ravi who was a tree feller started making bags from natural products after he went jobless during the lockdown. He takes three hours to make the completely hand-knitted areca leaf bag.
Sadly, his relatives and friends are the only customers for the product as of now.
