On UpCyclie’s website, one encounters patches of fabric coming together in bewildering patterns the way smithers of coloured glass do in a Kaleidoscope. These patterns have names and an assigned value in the market: to mention a few, backpacks, kids’ bags, memory bags with names, patchwork waist bags and denim belt bags. If one tried tracing those patches of fabric to their sources, the explorer would end up in dozens of tailoring shops in Chennai.
For Namrutha, the founder of Upcyclie, the journey to the tailoring shops began with a simple question: what happens to all the leftover fabric? A bag made with patches of discarded fabric | Photo Credit: SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT “Chennai alone generates 251 tonnes of textile waste every single day,” says Namrutha, whose Upcyclie describes itself as “earth-friendly travel bags from fabric waste, by women”. Two hundred and fifty-one tonnes is a bit on the heavier side: it would take the collective weight of 46 African elephants to tip the scales against it. The answer to the above question turned out to be a call to action.
The voices were different, but the answer was drearily uniform. “Fabric scraps had no resale value, so they were either discarded or burned; we do not have the means or the money to process them” -- that was well over 100 tailors speaking to Namrutha, as she crissed-crossed Chennai in her quest. It is an environmental crisis that is neatly papered (well, clothed) over.
Namrutha wanted to talk about it:.