Recently, on a Friday at Times Square Centre, Artisans of the Emirates (Arte) hosted its second Green Market, a unique shopping experience where the community was able to discover unconventional, hard-to-find arts and crafts, as well as support the environment by purchasing one-of-a-kind, sustainable products from local artisans.
The market featured locally handmade products, including food. Eating and buying locally is an integral part in preserving our Earth, after all. Moreover, many artisans used Earth Day to draw attention to the implementation of year-round greener practices, such as forgoing the use of plastic bags for alternatives such as fabric or paper bags. Arte helps talented entrepreneurs from the community come together and exhibit their wares.
Eco-conscious products
Among others, Van Kleuren, a locally-based green home business, introduced a fresh collection of eco-conscious products made from only biodegradable materials such as cotton fabric scraps and barley to create microwavable hot/cold compresses.
Their collection also included notebooks made from old cardboard boxes and used paper bags. The eco-vendors went the extra mile with their stall display which was made entirely of driftwood and stones from the beach and old wooden fruit and vegetable carts. Also present at the Green Market were Pets Plus, who conducted a drawing contest, in conjunction with Times Square Centre. Visitors were encouraged to bring their children, who were able to participate in the drawing competition for a chance to get their artworks displayed in Times Square Centre for public viewing. The children were able to choose from a variety of themes, such as colouring sea water scenery or drawing their favourite pets.
The aim was to raise more awareness about animal welfare in the community from a grassroots level. Emirates Arthritis Foundation attended by hosting a fund-raiser for a special selection of handmade items donated by volunteers and supporters of the organisation. Moreover, Feline Friends — a permanent fixture now at Times Square Centre — are continuing fund-raising through a second-hand book sale. They offered an environmentally-friendly — and budget-friendly — option to stocking our libraries with wonderful books. All books at the sale were donations from the community, and were in fair or good condition.
Both fiction and non-fiction titles were available. Every event hosted by Arte is different, it gives entrepreneurs from the community a platform to introduce unique, handmade products to the world. If more is done to encourage local entrepreneurship in the country, it would help foster talent within the community and build an experience that is worth sustaining. If you missed out on our market, you can visit the next one by checking out our schedule of events on www.arte.ae.
— The readers are co-founders of Artisans of the Emirates, in Dubai.
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