16 Oct 2013

Plant seeds play a crucial role in people's lives as some are edible, especially those used to make cooking oil, beverages and spices but, they also have uses which can be exploited for economic purposes.

However, some innovative individuals have found other uses for seeds such as making beads and necklaces.  A Motswana woman based in Kasane has however, surpassed expectations and released her innovative energy into using seeds to make a living by decorating flower pots with them.

Ms Elinah Lebalelo said in an interview that she looked around for business ideas that she could venture into but, realised that many of them were already taken. She indicated that she also used old newspapers and seeds to make and decorate flower pots, a practice which also promoted sustainable recycling of newspapers and seeds which would otherwise have been contributed to environmental degradation.

Through the use of old newspapers and seeds, she is able to sustain herself economically, as well as being environmentally friendly. The process of designing flower pots, she mentioned, starts with getting newspapers and soaking them with water in order to make it easier to work with them.

After this, she chooses any shape that she wishes to align her design with and then using her hands, she smoothes the edges and nicely shapes the flower pots. At the end of this stage, Lebalelo explained that the designs are then taken outside to dry from the natural heat of the sun. After the drying process, the containers are then painted to harden their surface.

Lebalelo further explained that she used super glue to stick seeds on the outer sides of her flower pot to decorate and give them an appealing look. Her designs include traditional flowerpots, serving trays and basins which can be used to store jewellery, sweets in tuck-shops, and sugar and other things at home.

Lebalelo explained that she sold her designs at the local market in Kasane and at her tuckshop situated in Kgapamadi ward.  Her prices range from P25 to P75 which she said was better than not doing anything at all.

She encouraged the youth, especially those in Kasane to have the drive to unlock their creativity and make a living out of something, especially during these economically trying times. Ends