Green Somethings: The Blog

Beeja

     

A garden hammock chair at a friend’s place nudged my curiosity. It was amazingly relaxing and could make an ideal piece for any home or garden. An inquiry led me to ‘Beeja', which  is a source of inspiration to all who adhere to green living.

Founded by a group of environmentally conscious people, it works with designers, craftsmen and the locals. Beeja is registered as a trust and has 96 members, at present. The products are nature friendly and crafted with locally available resources mostly bamboo, wood and paper to create utility pieces.

 

There are handmade articles like scrapbooks, notebooks and lamps. Kid's clothing in khadi and block print is available. You can buy household linen like curtains, table linen and cushions made of organdy, khadi with patch work, block prints and embroidery.

Gifts made of bamboo, paper mache wood and khadi are popular with visitors. The furniture range consists of folding hammock chairs with a block printed canvas fabric, dining table sets, chairs, coffee table with Jaisalmer stone and bamboo. Lovely pieces of jewellery and paper mache coasters can also be bought.

Bamboo and wood furniture comes with the traditionally used  'nivar' or canvas. I loved their bamboo sofa chair, which has an interesting shape and is looking stunning. Throw few colorful, cushions and it will look great in your house. Rocking chairs,the low stools or chowkis can fit in any corner. Check their floor lamp made of bamboo and 'agave' fibre. It is so unique. The informal seating options are beautiful and can add charm to any home.

The website is under construction, but you can check  Beeja on Facebook. Do have a look at the captivating pictures in the albums. 

Contact:

Meghana Ajit
Studio Address 
B-II, Nehru Nagar III
Ghaziabad, U.P
India

Article inputs by Nupur Roopa 

Garden Designs to Die For

My last event in Chandigarh got an incredibly amazing response both in terms of sales and feedback. Compliments poured in from almost every person who stepped in our mini-store; if there was one that I remember and that clearly made my day, was when one lady commented that the look of the products and the stall overall was very European. Now, I am not some wannabe or someone who likes all things non-desi. Quite on the contrary, I love the made-in-India handiworks and always amaze at how much the handicrafts industry in India has grown. What truly moved my heart was how I was finally able to touch the right chord with people who understand and appreciate good designs - with a bit of hard work, and a lot of belief that the GS offerings will sell, I really made it work!  It clicked, and I guess now, there's no looking back :)

Inspired by the adoration, I am now working on some French and Victorian styles for the next collection of planters and garden accessories. Of course, there's no work complete with a good amount of Googling - here's what I dug out recently; just some beautiful eye candy for all my beautiful followers.  

Awesome images & content courtesy House to Home - UK  (these were so cool, I just had to steal 'em!)
 

Colourful Provencal-style patio: Brightly-painted shutters with a café curtain at the window for a truly French-style feel. 

 

Styled with sustainables garden: Notice the tyres used as planters, scaffoldboard decking and discarded brick rubble to create this very sustainable & low-maintainence urban garden. 

 
Low-level garden: Create a casual space for lounging around in the garden by choosing low-level, ergonomic seating to relax in, teamed with vibrant, stripy rugs. Add a mix of pots planted with moss and ferns around the edge of your garden for a smart boho mix. 

 

Modern Courtyard: I love the use of clean lines and simple plants with large grey slates that form a path between beds of stipa, rudbeckia and crocosmia. Wall hung flowerbeds in a metal that reflect the light, draw attention to the back of the garden 

Outdoor garden style: Bring your living room style onto the patio. Add splashes of color with bright accessories like this pink throw and lantern lights and butterfly accessories. 

Outdoor kitchen-diner: A built-in barbeque, just  ideal for family meals as well as entertaining in the summers. Add comfort with colourful cushions. Low-maintenance planters can be grouped in threes or fives for displays with impact.

 

Outdoor dining: Give your summer garden party a Moroccan feel with a collection of tea lights, suspended from a parasol. Add soft roses in pink and yellow and complement with fuschia-coloured tea glasses. 

Corner showcase: Although this courtyard garden is compact (perfect for apartments), a cleverly positioned mirror (left corner) makes it appear much bigger than it is. A decorative table and chairs with lots of lanterns and plant pots create a pretty spot for outdoor suppers. 

 

Garden lighting: For an interesting effect in the garden, line modern lattice lanterns up a row of steps and keep the scheme monochrome for a striking contrast against the green of the plants.

 

Summer pots: Pots of succulents, including houseleeks, enjoy the summer sun in their places on this circular patio in a Somerset country garden. 

Grow Your Own Fresh Air

Know which is the healthiest building in your city? I recently discovered the one in my city, New Delhi. At least that's what the Government of India says and for once I think I'll believe the Government ('cos this really does make good sense to me)!

Researcher Kamal Meattle talks about how an arrangement of three common houseplants, the Areca Palm, Mother-in-law's-tongue and Money-plant used in specific spots in a home or office building, can result in measurably cleaner indoor air. Years of research prove reduced energy requirements and eye irritation and increased productivity among people who work around these plants - infact, he says you could be inside a capped bottle and not need any fresh air at all if you have the right arrangement of these plants around you.

I have written about the benefits of houseplants before in this blog, but the facts and figures given by Mr. Meattle were baffling even to me.

Listen to Kamal Meattle talk about air filtering at his own office building, the Paharpur Business Center, New Delhi and give some really cool statistics here.

Go Green

Most people buy plants solely because of their aesthetic appeal. Now in the business of selling plants, I thought it was sort of my duty to apprise these people with 'green' facts behind housing plants in their homes and offices. It helped us a lot to make selling these beautiful pieces of nature so much more enjoyable.

Seriously. Just keeping plants around gives you the chance to breathe clean. NASA has been undertaking a study on plants and how really they can benefit us. And here is what they have come up with. 

While we do know that plants filter air by producing oxygen from carbon-di-oxide, there are certain plants that go the extra length to make our air cleaner. They also absorb formaldehyde, benzene and trichloroethylene from the atmosphere. 

Now when I read about this finding all I can think about is when I can finish writing about this on my blog and rush out to my favorite plant nursery and bring home a few more of these specific plants to add on to my already rather green collection of plants @ GreenSomethings.com!

I do have some of the NASA recommended plants though a few more and I am guaranteed to be breathing in clean clean air! So those of you who love plants and those of you hankering after clean air in your homes go on and buy these plants from your closest nursery or call us at 9717103339 if you want these arranged specially in our bright and trendy pots. The Spider plant, Rubber plant, Elephant ear philodendron, Bamboo plant, Mother-in-law’s tongue and the Peace lily are some of the plants that can make our homes a cleaner place to live in. Take a look...

Spider Plant 

  Rubber Plant

 

Peace Lily

 

Elephant Ear Philodendron

 

Mother In-law's Tounge

 
So what are you waiting for? Go on get green! I am off for sure! See you later.

Bamboozled with Bamboo

I recently learnt about a Hydrabad based social enterprise, Bamboo House India (BHI). Looking at the range of products and eco-solutions that this enterprise has come to offer in only one year of its existence, sure did bamboozle me!

BHI promotes the use of bamboo as an economic driver for rural and tribal artisans. It is involved in the production of bamboo products, handcrafted by rural artisans and enabling linkages with several market channels for the sale of bamboo products thereby generating 'green livelihood' opportunities for these rural and tribal craftsmen.

Triple bottom line

From being involved in the bamboo plantations, training the craftsmen to marketing of finished products BHI leaves no stone unturned in ensuring excellent product quality and aesthetics. Set up by Aruna and Prashant Lingam in 2007, BHI is working to create a chain of bamboo retail outlets across the country (and in due time internationally as well) which will house all sorts of bamboo products like home decor, accessories, cutlery, frames & stands and furniture under one roof.

Their sustainable business model they say, will help the rural and tribal artisans and use bamboo to develop
contemporary life style products to suit market tastes and demand rather than age old basketry items and play an active role in promoting bamboo an eco-friendly substitute to other raw materials.

BHI is also providing bamboo solutions for low cost housing structres especially across rural India. To ensure continuous demand, they are tying up with government agencies to build resorts and bus shelters. The tie ups include National Mission on Bamboo Applications (NMBA), Indian
Institute of Technology (IIT-D), Confederation of Indian Indsutry (CII), Cane & Bamboo Technology Center (CBTC), Andhra Pradesh Forest Dept (APFD), Infrastructure Leasing & Financial Services (IL &FS), Tripura Bamboo Mission (TBM) and A P Technology Promotion & Development Center (APTDC).

View all BHI products at http://greenlivelihoods.org/