Global Ecovillage Network/Solution Library/Baskets from olive tree twigs

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Following the olive harvest and pruning, olive twigs are gathered and burnt in open air, causing air pollution and smoke. Using natural materials to make usable and beautiful products at home.

Olive twigs are very sturdy and strong. Currently, most pruned olive trees generate so many clippings and cuttings that farmers are burning them without knowing how to best use them in other ways. A traditional method prevents cuttings from being burnt by soaking them in water in big barrels to make them supple and then using them for weaving. Knowledge is passed on from one generation to another of the traditional craft of weaving sturdy and beautiful baskets from olive twigs. This has provided a unique alternative to excessive burning of these twigs.

After soaking the twigs in water for a day or two, the twigs become softer to work with and are shaped into baskets, vases, trays, bowls and even birdhouses. Indigenous species, Sarees (from Oak family), tree twigs are woven with the olive twigs to give a distinct red color to the product. With an eye to detail, and traditional crafting skills, women and men in rural areas have designed different containers to use to store food, use as home ornaments and, in harvest times, to collect olives, figs and almonds in them.

The natural materials give these baskets a very organic and healthy look, in addition to replacing the use of plastics for storage that can be hazardous and harmful to our health. This craft is slowly being lost because of the tedious and meticulous work that is necessary to be put into it, and therefore needs to be preserved, appreciated and promoted as a product to generate income for local ‘artists’ who preserve and pass on this unique tradition.

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