Bisat Al-Reeh goes green

The second day of the Bisat Al-Reeh festival in Jeddah was attended by around 2600 visitors — all sophisticated women with a taste for trendy wearables and accessories, so much so that even sellers at the event described their clientele as classy and full of vigor.
This year, some exhibitors are showcasing products that are environmentally friendly and are helping to raise awareness on green practices their merchandise.
“My products are from Bahrain. I focus on organic beauty products that smell good and look great,” said Nadia, founder of Green Bar. “The bottles are made of glass because I wanted to stay away from plastic and wanted more environmentally friendly materials,” she added.
Her booth offers all sorts of oils, soaps, lotions, creams and lip balms that enrich the body with vitamins and organic fruits scents.
Another booth, Alnabta is a non-profit organization that aims to spread environmental awareness in Saudi society. They are involved in developing awareness campaigns and programs about the importance of the three Rs: Recycle, Reduce and Reuse. They are offering educational curriculum to schools for grades one, two and three. Alnabta also offers other awareness programs designed especially for offices and schools by inviting them to an environmental club that stresses on the importance of protecting our planet.
“All these programs need funding and we usually collect money from selling different products. This year we have stylish and limited handbags made from recycled canvas. These bags represent Jeddah and Riyadh with the city map printed on the canvas,” said Dina Al-Shahwan, who works at Alnabta. “Princess Lama bint Mansour and Deema bint Mansour were the designers behind these bags. They decided to support the organization by designing for us and helping to spread the word. As for Jeddah’s map, it was provided by Zaki Farsi, former mayor of Jeddah,” she added.
The environmentally friendly bags are indeed one of the major attractions at the festival. Some visitors are buying them for every day use while others are thinking they make wonderful Eid gifts.
“These bags are really nice and colorful and I was attracted to the booth before even knowing it was good for the environment. I loved the colors and the idea behind the map and so I got one for myself and one for my best friend,” said Youssra Abdullah. “I also loved that when you purchase one bag you are offered to use a pin and mark the location of your house on the map because they want to know which area has the most number of people who are interested in saving the planet,” she added.
Kuwaiti shopper Lamya Al-Saleh thinks the bag is the perfect gift for her friends back home. “It is rare to find something beautiful, useful and environmentally friendly all in one. Usually such products are not as beautiful and creative as these bags,” she said. “I love the city of Jeddah and I love its people so I decided to buy five pieces. I was very excited to see that the bags are affordable as they only cost me SR 800 per piece,” she added.