Every day, as we spend our hours in a loosely fixed routine, we see copious amounts of seemingly ordinary objects and phenomena. Yet, as the story of a young boy witnessing an apple falling from a tree grew popular due to its role played in a great discovery- regardless of the amount of truth in it- another story of an ordinary sighting in nature is doing rounds in the eco-conscious community of India. A curled up, dried, fallen coconut leaf gave Saji Varghese the inspiration for an ingenious innovation, known in the world today as Sunbird Straws.
Battling plastic and its wastage
A double-edged sword, Saji’s Sunbird Straws reduce the usage of single-use plastic and minimise agricultural waste. The leaves that are usually burnt by cultivators, were procured by Saji. Followed by a two year long research and development process, he designed a multi-layered, fully functioning coconut leaf straw that is chemical free, naturally shiny, viable, and efficient. Sunbird Straws team reveals that “close to two hundred straws can be made from one naturally dried and fallen compound leaf. In a survey of 15 villages in Karnataka, we found that most of the farmers burn these leaves in landfills or out kitchens. Now, they will not, as they can be converted into a product that creates value and solves a wicked global problem.”
When the crisis is huge and has existed for several decades, every step counts. Be it plastic choking the oceans, or women not getting enough education and economic opportunities. Saji’s venture is one of the many sustainable product alternatives in India; but reports show, that “the expected mismanaged waste in India in 2023 will be 7,300,752 tonnes of plastic. The country will also be responsible for releasing an average of 3,30,764 tonnes of microplastics into waterways,” therefore, the multitude of such brands is inadequate in relation to the waste that is still being created throughout the year. Moreover, Sunbird Straws consists of almost 100 women who are paid a fair salary, being employed in production centres that are close to their homes. The convenience of going home for their break to attend to personal responsibilities makes the brand stand out. Saji has recently announced that students of Christ University- his workplace as a Professor of English- will voluntarily teach the children of those women communication skills online.
Sunbird Scribbles
Saji and his team have worked on more waste-based products like the straws which come in regular, cocktail, boba tea, and shakes & smoothies variants, such as ballpoint pens- Scribbles- Fera and Legacy. Furthermore, their proprietary products include scrubbers, pouches, coasters, table mats, besides a few others. But this not a story of straws and scrubbers, they say, “It is about lives- precious human lives. Our intention is to empower women in rural areas so that they can improve the living standards of their families. And we want them to touch lives- beyond their hearth and home. We envision these women impacting the world with the products they make.” Saji envisions these straws to reach further, and foresees a gentleman in California or a little girl in Auckland, or a tourist in Dubai enjoying their drinks happily through straws “made by the palms of these women, made out of the tall palms nurtured by the earth. That’s the story of Sunbird straws.”
Read More: Pankaj and Shweta: Empowering small farmers with GramHeet
