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Women in India show secret to plastic-free shopping

SECRET PROJECTS, a social business that strives to empower women in India who make and sell clothing and homeware, has unveiled a product that aims to reduce plastic use.

Their foldable shopping bags, priced at £6 each, are part of their micro- enterprise scheme that aims to provide Indian women with an additional income. These bags are also an


alternative to plastic shopping bags.

Launched following a crowdfunding campaign in February that saw 143 backers pledging more than £5,000, these bags are made out of cotton and sold to local shop keepers

in India. They can also be bought online too.

Fritha Mason, the founder of Secret Projects, decided on the Secret Shopping Bag after the Indian government announced last year its vision to phase all single-use plastics by 2022.

This created a huge opportunity for the women living in India who stitch and who are trying to run their own micro enterprises, said Mason.

Secret Projects works with 14 women’s groups in five states of India, and for each bag they earn just over £2.

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Highlights

  • British Asian prisoner Sundeep Ghuman murdered in February 2020 by racist cellmate at HMP Belmarsh.
  • Coroner finds prison failed to follow policy preventing racist prisoners sharing cells with different ethnicities.
  • Report raises concerns about widespread violence and drug use at the high-security prison.

A coroner has contacted the government with urgent safety concerns after a British Asian prisoner was murdered by a racist gang member who was wrongly placed in his cell at HMP Belmarsh.

Sundeep Ghuman died in February 2020 after being violently assaulted with a table leg by Stevie Hilden, a member of the so-called Racist Army of Woolwich. Hilden was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder in 2022.

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