CHOOSE BIODEGRADABLE BASKETS OVER PLASTIC

 

Baskets and Hats made from plants are biodegradable

It's 12:45 pm in the hot Cape Town summer, I decided to take a walk in the streets of Claremont.

As I get to corner Second Avenue and Harvey street I saw this woman sitting, In front of her is an assortment of baskets from winnowing baskets, laundry baskets to what looked like handbags.

I was so amazed to see such beautifully handcrafted work.

"How much is this one," I said as I pointed at a beautiful small basket I intended to buy for my wife?

"R200!" The lady answered happily as I later discovered that I was her first customer.

The environmental consciousness in me was quickly unleashed as I started comparing the advantages, prices, beauty, durability, and not forgetting the eco-friendliness between the bamboo handwoven baskets and the plastic ones I had recently seen being sold at a local shop

I realized that the biodegradable basket had many advantages over the plastic one I mean from an environmentalist's perspective.

Beautifully handcrafted baskets 

These craftsmen and women do not only weave baskets but they can weave anything from clothing storage cabinets, chairs, sun hats, and doormats from plant bark, reeds, bamboo stems, and other plants.

"I am from Zimbabwe and we learned to craft these baskets at a very young age as that was our source of income," said the lady who told me that her name was Winnet.

I asked her if she knew that her products were not just wonderful but also environmentally friendly and good for the planet as compared to their plastic competitors?

Her answers were no and I explained to her why I preferred her products as compared to the plastic ones.

1. Not much fuel or energy is wasted in manufacturing those baskets, meaning less carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

2. After use they can be nicely destroyed and added into the soil where they will gradually decompose and become part of the soil where they came from