Waste management is crucial for the sanitation goals of any country, especially one with the population that India has. For the health of the people and to preserve nature, many indian companies are stepping up and taking waste to turn a profit.
Plastic to Planet: Ecokari
Multi-layered plastic is difficult to recycle, if not impossible, in most circumstances. And yet, not everyone has access to bulk-stores and package free options. Plus, recycling plastic can have health consequences too. This is where Ecokari comes in. They take such packets and as safely as they can upcycled them into bags, wallets, and other products which need to be made of plastic, to keep them waster-resistant. While this can’t be an excuse to overconsume plastic, their work reminds us of the important role plastic plays as durable reusable material and how we can make the most of it.
Waste to Wealth: GrowDisel
GrowDisel is a biofuel company that takes industrial and other waste and turns it into fuel alongside other by-products. While some biofuels have seen some debate on how sustainable they’re since they take farmland which could be used to grow food or be reforested and use it to crops for fuel, GrowDiesel instead uses organic waste and an aerobic digestive system to ensure the most sustainable product they can make. Yes, they made a greenhouse gas methane but it’s used as natural gas and not simply released into the atmosphere. Their company is a great way to start the transition towards a cleaner economy while simultaneously reducing waste, as long as we are conscious consumers who remember that unnecessary excessive burning is detrimental to environmental and human well-being.
Upcycling agricultural waste isn’t only done as fuel, we can even get cool notebooks out of it.
Bluecat Paper
Companies like Rescript recycle waste paper and keep it in circulation for as long as possible but that too requires new virgin fibers be added at a point. Hence why baggese paper made from sugarcane waste is becoming the go to, alongside FSC certified paper. Yet, if you want options, BlueCat Stationary and Paper are a good place to go to, as they take various types of agricultural waste from elephants poop to cotton, hemp, and linen waste to paper currency waste to make new paper. And they’re women-owned!
Also check:- A Deep Dive into the Life and Impact of Verghese Kurien
WearEqual
Another woman-owned brand on our list is WearEqual, a sustainable intimate-wear brand focused on feminine products, like bralettes, scrunchies, and underwear. They upcycle scraps of organic cotton material and for hygiene bio-wash it to make these products. While organic cotton requires less fertilizers, it needs more land to grow and hence the need to keep it in circulation is high. To ensure that happens, WearEqual also has partnered with India Wasted to take back products of theirs that no longer work for you and hygienically upcycle them into stuffing for jackets etc.
These companies, whether they be Forest Enzymes or WearEqual are taking what others think of as useless and trash and then showing the world the value still inherent in these items. A circular economy does exactly this, whether that’s by repair, repurpose, thrifting or upcycling. Not only are they removing waste and what would take up landfill space, creating air pollution but they’re reducing the extraction and use of new resources, changing how we think of trash entirely. To know more about the new India, stay tuned to NB News.
Disclaimer- The author previously worked with GrowDiesel and is an affiliate for Ecokari
