Most of  the handicrafts are wood-based products sourced from our artisans from Northern states of India like Uttar Pradesh.

Asha is also involved in sale of wooden handicrafts so, as a responsible act towards afforestation.Asha plans to have a plantation of fast growing trees like Poplar and has taken lease of land Meghchappar in Saharanpur district, Uttar Pradesh for a period of six years.  The land will be used as a plot for plantation of  saplings in an eco-friendly manner.

Blue pottery is a traditional art unique to Jaipur in the state of Rajasthan, and symbolic of Jaipur handicrafts.

Asha exports blue pottery to the western markets. Asha, being an environment-conscious organization, has felt an urgent need to curb deforestation. Baking of the ceramics is done in the traditional clay furnace. This results in emission of smoke, thus polluting the air and also harming the lungs of the artisans. Besides that, continued use of wood will result in deforestation. 

Asha Handicrafts is now in the process of working with the artisans and a Swiss donor, to fund workshops and demonstrations, on better kilning methods. Replacement of wood with Liquid Petroleum Gas (L.P.G.) will not only eliminate smoke pollution but also curb deforestation.
The project hopes to begin in January 2006.

The rural villages of India bank heavily on fuel like wood, sawdust, cowdung and other types of biomass like hay, dried grass etc, which generate smoke and soot, particularly in the home.

Many of Asha’s artisans use such wood stoves for everyday cooking. Asha provided 15 artisans in Saharanpur with portable smokeless chulhas. These chulhas use dry sawdust for fuel. Based on the gasification process that results in a combustible gas, the smoke gets eliminated during the burning process.

As a step towards further improvement, Asha provided 10 artisan families in Saharanpur and 10 artisan families in Moradabad with gas stoves, tables for support and Liquid Petroleum Gas (L.P.G.) cylinders.

The use of clean fuels like L.P.G will help in complete elimination of smoke from the kitchens of the artisans

Asha’s producers in Saharanpur who make wood based handicrafts generate a lot of wood waste on a daily basis. Some of the wood dust is taken home by the artisans to use as fuel for their wood stoves and a major chunk is sent to factories where they use wood as fuel for inhouse activities.  Asha’s artisans were educated about the necessity for use of masks, in order to protect themselves from inhaling wood dust. Asha has also provided free masks and  waste collection drums (each with a capacity of 300 kgs). This has helped in proper collection of wood waste and also enabled their easy disposal.