A craftsman in a suburb of Indonesia's capital is defiantly continuing with a trade long made obsolete by vacuum cleaners and cheap plastic brushes -- the home-made ceiling broom.

Since the vacuum cleaner started to become common in Indonesia in the 1980s and cheap plastic brooms became ubiquitous, the hand-crafted ceiling broom has slowly disappeared, until it became almost unheard-of by the early 00s.

But in Parigi Village in Bintaro, part of the western Jakarta suburb of South Tangerang, fifty-year-old Mr Atai has stayed loyal to making this traditional broom.

While he is one of the only people to keep making them, he still believes there are fans of these traditional cobweb-clearers -- he sells around two every week and occasionally gets orders for more.

Video filmed on 29 May followed Mr Atai as he made one of his brooms.

He makes the brush part of the tool from leftover ships' rope, made of abaca banana fibre (also used in the production of some bank notes, like US dollars and yen), making it a sustainable as well as a traditional product.

Despite all the work involved, he only sells them for 50,000 Indonesian rupiah, or around 4 US dollars.

To make ends meet, he also sells doormats made by his wife, which are much more popular -- they often sell two in a day.

That too is eco-friendly, as it is also made from recycled products.

In Parigi Village, Bintaro, South Tangerang City, there are still craftsmen who make ceiling brooms. In Indonesia alone, since the vacuum cleaner in 1980, this broom has slowly disappeared. and disappeared completely in the early 2000s. This broom cannot compete with vacuum cleaners and plastic brooms
Unexpectedly in this village, it turns out that Mr. Atai, 50 years old, is still loyal to making this antique broom. he's the only one who does it.
Mr. Atai still believes that fans of this broom still exist.
although the sales are slow but they are always there. at least 2 brooms sold in one week.
The quality of the broom he makes is very good. made from ship mine waste. yup, Mr. Atai recycles the ship's rope that has been wasted. The boat rope is made of abaca banana fiber. fiber which is also used to make US dollar banknotes.
sometimes he gets orders to make more brooms...but that's very rare.
sometimes he is also a resource person at several seminars. to tell about this broom.
the price of the broom is only IDR 50,000 equivalent to $ 4 less. to cover the needs of Mr. Atai selling mats made by his wife. The sale of the doormat is much better than the broom. for a mat in one day can sell 2 pieces of the mat. the mat made by his wife is also the result of convection waste recycling.