Aparant, or Aparantaka (meaning "Western border") was the name with which the geographical region of ancient India corresponding to the northern part of the Konkan region on the western coast of India was identified. We as a brand are proud to work with plastic waste to offer trendy upcycled products. Aparant makes upcycled products from waste plastic, collected by Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra, Chiplun, Dist. Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, India.
At Aparant, we collect, segregate, clean, dry and upcycle non-biodegradable and hard to recycle Waste Plastic into an attractive fabric woven on the handloom. The fabric is then used to produce handy, fashionable and durable daily-use items like pouches, purses and bags. The entire process is manual and thus we are able to offer full time employment to more than a dozen artisans, of which most are women, thus creating jobs while caring for the environment at the same time!
So, when you buy products at Aparant, you are helping us:
- Reduce non-biodegradable waste from the environment
- Keep our environment clean
- Provide employment to rural folks
- Encourage women empowerment
Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra (SNM) provide us the plastic waste collected from houses, schools and shops.
SNM was established in 1992, and has undertaken commendable projects in the fields of Nature Conservation and Protection, Environmental Education, Agriculture, Environment, Eye donation and Body donation, etc.
The project of Marine Turtle conservation was successfully implemented along the 720 km coastline of Maharashtra, and the Velas Turtle festival is an exemplary outcome of this conservation movement. Apart from the marine turtles, SNM has also successfully undertaken the protection and conservation projects for the Indian swiftlet, the white bellied sea eagle, the vultures and the Indian pangolin. Furthermore, the breeding patterns of 30 bird species have been studied, researched and documented by the SNM team. The most important characteristic of all their projects is the involvement of the local population and community participation in the same. The teachers and professors from various schools and colleges from all across the Konkan region are sensitized about Environmental Protection and conservation through multiple programs. Voluntary Eye and Body donation were first introduced in Konkan by SNM, and till date in effect, 33 eye donations and 20 body donations have been completed.
Shri. Bhau Katdare, the founder of SNM has recounted his experiences in the chapter about Indian Pangolins in the English book for standard 7th and the chapter about turtles in the English book for standard 9th of the Maharashtra State board. The details about Shri Bhau Katdare and Sahyadri Nisarga Mitra have also been incorporated in the section “the Changing Face of India”, in the History book of standard 12th. Both of these instances acknowledge the tremendous hard work and sincere efforts of the SNM which have thus gained official recognition.
SNM has now forayed into Solid Waste Management in the Chiplun and surrounding region – they encourage composting of wet waste at a domestic level and collection of cleaned and dried plastic from homes. This plastic is then segregated into seven types and recycled. Some multilayer plastic packaging of products like Kurkure cannot be recycled and hence it is upcycled. The Plastic bags are cleaned, sanitized and dried manually – then strips are cut out of the same and wound and woven on handloom to obtain a cloth which is stitched to make various articles like purses and bags. Each such pouch, purse or bag uses 10-50 plastic bags and thus as much plastic is saved from being dumped in the garbage.