Surti designs 30,000 wedding cards made of banana fibre paper

SURAT: At least 30,000 wedding cards made from banana fibre paper, manufactured and designed in the Diamond City, were distributed to the relatives of Madhya Pradesh women and child development minister Archana Chitnis and who’s who of the state, including chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan. Chitnis took the help of a woman entrepreneur of the city to get this eco-friendly card designed for her son’s wedding.
Ritu Jain, a young entrepreneur manufacturing banana fibre paper for the past six years, was contacted by the minister through Navsari Agriculture University (NAU) for designing banana paper wedding cards for her son Vardhan’s marriage on July 21.
The biodegradable banana fibre wedding cards had tulsi seeds and a message to save the environment. The card receiver was exhorted to tear the paper and dispose of it in a flowerpot so that it can grow as a plant. Ritu told TOI, “We have been manufacturing paper out of banana fibres for the past six years. This was first time that we actually had designed a wedding card out of banana paper. The Madhya Pradesh minister, who wanted eco-friendly wedding cards, had contacted NAU for help.”
She said it took her more than 20 days to manufacture banana paper in huge quantity and design the wedding cards. “I told the minister to get the wedding cards in polythene cover, which she refused saying the entire concept of an eco-friendly card will diminish then,” Ritu said.
Ritu added, “Apart from banana fibre paper, the minister wanted something unique in the card. So, we decided to keep two small banana paper cards with the minister welcoming the invitees and also revealing that the invitation card contains tulsi seeds and that they need to tear the paper and put it in a flowerpot to see it grow as a plant.”
Ritu informed that banana fibre is sourced by her from Jalgaon in Maharashtra and Gujarat’s Narmada, Bharuch and Anand districts. The quality of fibre from these pockets is very good for manufacturing top quality banana papers. She supplies about 50 tonne of banana paper to customers in India and abroad every year. “Most of the banana fibre papers are used for gift wrapping and making boxes, paper bags, photo albums, pen stands, lamp shades etc,” Ritu added.