Ever wondered what happened to the flowers you offered on your last temple visit? Every day, Indian temples attract lakhs of visitors who offer flowers that usually land up in rivers or landfills.
In the world’s most populous country, a “handful of flowers” turns into about 800 million tonnes of flower waste every year, according to the UN.
The problem?
Flowers dumped in rivers decay and release toxins like arsenic, lead and cadmium from pesticides into water bodies, leading to high levels of pollution and waterborne diseases.
The solution
The Mahakaleshwar Temple in Ujjain generates 5-6 tonnes of floral waste daily. Women from a self-help group make 30 million incense sticks, while the temple's vehicles collect 3 tonnes of waste daily.
Image: instagram/HolyWaste
Adiv Pure Nature, a sustainable design house, collects floral waste from the Siddhivinayak Temple in Mumbai to transform floral waste into natural dyes for textiles like scarves, garments and linens.
Image: adivpurenature.com
Phool.co, a Kanpur-based startup, collects 21 tonnes of floral waste every week and recycles it into incense products. Users can bury the used incense in soil and water it to grow a tulsi plant.
Image: Phool.co
Similarly, HolyWaste has been revamping the space by turning over 1,000 kg of floral waste per week into soaps, incense and fertilisers.
Training more than 3,000 women, Aaruhi, a Delhi-based startup, has processed more than 1,000 kg of floral waste per month into eco-friendly products.
These initiatives by temples and startups across India are transforming the country by cleaning rivers, generating employment, and giving a new life to flowers used for worship.
Thanks for reading!
See next