Toys made from paper mache or paper pulp are the new attractions among the eco-friendly products being made by a social entrepreneurship called Paper Seed near Mangaluru.
Paper Seed, located at Pakshikere on the outskirts of the city, launched the paper toys on Sunday.
Entrepreneurship founder Nitin Vas, who is also an artist, said that Paper Seed wants to promote the new product as Mangaluru Toys by making them reflect the culture of the region in the coming days to build a brand image.
There are limited edition toys made from paper mache in Jammu and Kashmir, he said and added that paper toys had their origin in Persia.
Mr. Vas said that efforts will be made to project the toys as Mangaluru Toys on the lines of the Channapatna Toys which are made of soft wood.
“No plastic has been used in making Mangaluru Toys. Natural colours have been used in making them,” Mr. Vas, who is also an alumnus of Chamarajendra Academy of Visual Arts (CAVA), Mysuru, said.
For Raksha Bandhan last year, Paper Seed had launched rakhis having seeds of tomato, cucumber, capsicum, tulsi and the like. It had also made some terracotta rakhis with seeds.
Paper Seed also makes eco-friendly jewellery, earrings, key chain, ladles, cups from coconut shells, driftwood sculptures, baskets from locally available creepers and climbers. Some of the other products include seed pens, bamboo toothbrush, designed paper mache, seed paper notepad, paper straw, recycled paper cards, newspaper seed pencils and organic agarbatti.