It’s that time of year again, when siblings renew their contracts with a fancy string of thread. Last year, rakhis worth ₹12,000 crores were sold in India. Taking various price differentials into account, that would amount to approximately 100 crore rakhis, most of which were trashed as little as 24 hours later. Imagine the impact!
With Rakshabandhan being as popular as it is, patriarchy notwithstanding, we’ve curated some planet-friendly rakhis for you. These conscious brands are making bonds of thread for a better planet, and a more stylish sibling.
Purecloth
A dinosaur rakhi that becomes a brooch. Spiderman, who goes from your wrist to your lapel, just as easily. Purecloth is creating kid-friendly rakhis that will become part of your child’s wardrobe in times to come. These rakhis are handcrafted and intricately embroidered, to ensure your little one—or their cousin—would want to hang on to it, in times to come. And if you’re looking for something a little more elegant, Purecloth has crocheted flower options, too.
Econock
It’s an accessory. It’s a style statement. It’s a rakhi! Looking to give your sibling a rakhi that isn’t just planet-friendly but also a keepsake? Econock has the perfect answer: Bracelet-style leather knots that can even be customised (just drop them a DM). And they’re handcrafted from luxury leather offcuts. At Econock, they work with whatever coloured leather is received, so the workers aren’t dyeing it afresh and working with heavy chemicals. So these bands are planet- and people-friendly in their making. And of course, your sibling won’t be discarding them anytime soon.
Use Me Works
It would’ve gone to trash, but now, it’s going to be on your sibling’s wrist. Meenakshi Sharma, and her team of women artisans are crafting these adorable rakhis from waste textile. And while they haven’t been designed that way, they’re easy-to-care-for and can just as well be further upcycled into hair ties and other accessories. Well, what can we say, one man’s waste is another man’s treasure!
Plantables
If we could rewind a couple of decades, one thing we would really want is for all those rakhis we discarded to turn into plants. Real items of treasure! From superheroes (in collaboration with The Souled Store) to pretty flowers, all the rakhis made by Plantables are, well, plantable. So once the festivities are over, and your sibling’s done wearing them, they just need to drop it in some soil, and watch them grow. If that isn’t a sure symbol of love and caring, we can’t say what is!
