Project Palaash

1. Project Palaash is highly committed towards solving the problem of water pollution by managing the floral waste. Every year, India discards around 8 million tonnes of floral waste into its streams and rivers. These worn out flowers contaminate the water quality and the residue of pesticides used on the flowers percolates into the waters, thereby hampering our marine life. Another factor contributing to the hazard on the quality of water is the impurity caused by various dyeing and textile industries.

2. Through Project Palaash, Enactus Aryabhatta has proposed the ideal solution. Under Project Palaash, we aim to utilize these flowers and create organic dyes which are purely non-synthetic in nature. These organic dyes are used on fabrics which creates employment opportunities for destitute community members.

3. The problem of water pollution by textile industries and floral waste isn’t just limited to India, Project Palaash could help promote sustainable fashion on a larger scale and create a positive impact across the globe.

India’s religious and cultural activities generate a yearly 8 million tonnes of hazardous bio-waste that seeps into water bodies and has a detrimental impact on marine life. Floral discards from temples make for about 16% of water pollutants. Synthetic dyeing industries have become the third-largest consumer of water in the past decade. Moreover, these industries also expel nearly 80% of the world’s wastewater into the environment. When discharged, the untreated water depletes the oxygen levels of the water bodies. Many of the clothes we wear today are synthetically dyed, the process of which makes use of petroleum or coal. Some of these, such as azo dyes, are suspected to be carcinogens.

 Under Project Palaash, we aim to tackle the issue of floral waste by formulating organic dyes as a substitute to synthetic ones, thus promoting sustainable fashion. We empower human trafficked victims of the society by providing skill development training in dyeing. We have introduced the concept of sustainable fashion by providing 100% vegan fabric for the handloom industry. We also support artisans and weavers by giving them better market penetration teaching them the process of organic dyeing.

Under Project Palaash, we tackle the problem of water pollution by collecting floral waste and formulating organic dyes out of it. We bring sustainability in fashion and revive the traditional Indian art form of handloom. By doing this we not only tackle floral waste but also simultaneously replace synthetic dyes and polyester fabric. The utilization of floral waste along with the promotion of natural dyes helps make oceans cleaner and enhances the quality of life underwater. It also increases the fertility of the land around and drastically helps in reducing pollutant runoff. We have also collaborated with an NGO in Madhya Pradesh to promote sustainable fashion through the handloom industry for fabric that is 100% vegan. With this initiative, we are working towards minimizing water pollution by substituting power looms containing microplastic which pollute the water. We aim to install a zero-waste system through our business model. We cut down on our production costs by sourcing raw materials for free from temples. The floral matter remaining after the dyeing process is converted into compost, and the wastewater generated in the dyeing process is used to water plants. We aim to provide an eco-friendly substitute for synthetically dyed fabrics.

We, at Project Palaash, have been directly working together towards meaningfully improving the lives of people from the underprivileged sections of the society.  We have composed synergic collaborations with the renowned NGO – STOP Global Movement that has been dedicatedly working towards the mission of rescuing victims of human trafficking and oppression by empowering them through the means of education, employment under legal domains, vocational training and development to rescue them from the inhumane malpractices of slavery and trafficking.

Our project has potentiated the underprivileged sections of the society by provisioning them with a source to learn and earn through rudimental skills. We provide them with extensive training by improving their skillsets to become self-sufficient social entrepreneurs. Furthermore, a mature financial understanding is imparted to our beneficiaries by allowing these community members to handle their operations, income flow, and resources effectively.

Our project has provided them a platform by introducing vocational skills and dyeing techniques amongst the poor and engaging the masses in moving towards organic and sustainable fabrics. 

Thus, we have led this particular underprivileged section of the society to this path to become independent and self-sustaining.

Project Palaash adequately covers the set of dimensions that are mentioned in the Challenge. We preserve and restore the aquatic as well as a terrestrial ecosystem by employing a solution with multifold impact- waste management on land and preservation of water bodies by preventing the chemical runoff from synthetic dyes from harming the water bodies. We are creating scalable economic opportunities for many local communities. Our beneficiaries (human trafficking victims, artisan community) are given a chance to earn a sustainable livelihood through opportunities that are aligned with thriving and biodiverse ecosystems.

In its second year now, Project Palaash was established with an aim to tackle the problem of water pollution by uplifting the underprivileged section of society. We employ a community of human trafficking victims and currently have more than 15 beneficiaries. By providing them access to sustainable employment opportunities and various dyeing techniques, we have helped them become self-sufficient in handling their operations, income flow, and resources effectively by promoting a mature financial understanding and generating online sales. Our products include naturally dyed t-shirts, dupattas and cater to business as well as customer needs. Our sales model is essentially focused on providing customers with an integrated hands-on experience of naturally dyed fabrics. In our pan-India expansion phase, we have collaborated with various NGOs. We have also ventured into the handloom industry to amplify our impact. Under our latest ventures, we employ the artisan community to make 100% handloom cotton fabric.

The problem of floral waste is highly overlooked. In India, an yearly approximate of 8 million tonnes of floral waste from religious ceremonies is discarded every year - accounting for 16% of river pollutants. These flowers are cast aside and dumped into river streams, hampering marine life. Project Palaash not using conventional methods of just making composts of floral waste but rather using them for dyeing first gives our idea a very innovative and improved approach. Palaash runs on the concept of collecting floral wastes from religious and cultural places, and using them to create natural dye. Along with this, it also aims to promote sustainable fashion by using 100% vegan free cotton fabric in collaboration with the handloom industry. We do believe that this unique idea can bring change in the market with the introduction of more products made out of floral waste. With the spread of awareness about sustainable fashion, we expect industries to manufacture clothes by adopting sustainable methods and consumers making a conscious choice of buying from sustainable fashion brands over fast fashion brands.

One of the main goals of Project Palaash is to impact lives and make it better. This past year we’ve directly served 411 people, and we’re hopeful that this number will increase to 600 by next year and to more than 1000 in the next 5 years. 

Indicators used to measure the success of our project are: 

1. No. of people directly impacted 

2. No. of people indirectly impacted

3. Amount of Material Ocean Waste Reduction

4. Amount of Ocean/Coastal Habitat Restored in square/kilometer

5. Number of jobs created

6. Amount of new revenue generated

7. Amount of cost savings generated

8. Metric tons of CO2 or equivalent emissions reduced

9. Amount of Chemical Pollution Averted/Cleaned Up

These metrics define the impact we create. We sustainably produce cotton clothes that act as a substitute for synthetic fabric. We use electrical convention stoves and follow sustainable steps to reduce our carbon footprint like zero plastic packaging etc. 

Since June 2020, we have produced 16 kgs of handloom 100% vegan cotton fabric products. A single 6kg domestic wash has the potential to release as many as 700,000 fibers. Through our efforts, we have prevented about 1.8 million microfibres from being suspended in the water bodies.

Full-time staff: 410 

The team at Enactus Aryabhatta comprises 8 core members and 40+ associate members where everyone works with utmost dedication and diligence to achieve the target of sustainability set by the United Nations. While emerging from diverse academic backgrounds such as Economics, Mathematics, Psychology, Business Management, Political Science, Computer Science, and Commerce, we strive to fulfill common objectives which augment the achievement of one fundamental goal - making the world a better place. The members of the society are assigned to various departments (such as Research and Development, Marketing, Content, and Design and Technology) where the whole process, from the inception of an idea to the attainment of results, takes place under the guidance of our core members, faculty advisors, and industry experts. Our small team is a part of a substantial family of Aryabhatta College, University of Delhi and we persist to rise by lifting others. Our team comes from various ethnic and cultural backgrounds which helps us come up with ideas that are sensitive to the needs of every demographic. The idea of Project Palaash was born when one of our members observed tonnes of flowers being used for decoration at religious and cultural places but being thrown away the next day, thus harming the aquatic ecosystem.

At Project Palaash we believe in equal employment opportunity for all. Each qualified candidate is taken into consideration. We don’t discriminate on the basis of sex, caste, religion, disability, sexual orientation, or ethnic origin. Our aim is to create a sustainable community that provides all its members with equal opportunities to earn a livelihood, grow, and ultimately become independent citizens. All the projects that are undertaken by us at Enactus Aryabhatta have a common long-term aim- to be converted into Self-Help Groups (SHGs) that are fully capable of sustaining themselves.

We target a very diverse group of beneficiaries to support. Right now, Project Palaash caters to the upliftment of downtrodden women and human trafficking victims. With our pan-India expansion, we have also included the artisan community as our beneficiaries. We are also planning the further inclusion of acid attack victims in our project.

We are applying to Solve because it will help us overcome the barriers that our project is facing right now. Solve’s funding program can support us in overcoming our financial limitations. The grants and investments received through Solve will help us improve our global presence and support our diversification plans. The chance of networking with powerful impact-minded leaders from various industries and sectors will really help us in innovating new verticals for our project. Access to mentorship from experts and media exposure will help our solution receive a much-needed awareness boost.  This will help us in making a more scalable positive impact. Access to relevant in-kind resources such as software licenses and legal services will help us in becoming a self- sustaining business. The services offered by Solve will have a major positive impact on our project and will provide us with the unique opportunity to venture into unthought-of dimensions for the same.

Being a college society we will need financial support to carry out our pan-India expansion plans. We require support with a thorough analysis of our accounting practices. This will help us improve our methods and increase our revenue stream. We also require funding for setting up our own manufacturing centers for raw materials which will help us in becoming self- sustainable. Pitching our project idea to angel investors is another area where we seek mentorship. These investments will go a long way in helping us realize our diversification plans. On the public relations front, we seek advice as to how we can increase the awareness of people on the benefits of sustainable fashion and how that is the way to go forward. We are also open to suggestions on how we can improve upon our marketing strategies, improve our social media presence to make an impact on a global level. 

In order to improve upon our business model and product distribution strategies, we need to establish a sustainable supply chain, right from the procurement of our raw materials (i.e. floral waste), delivering it to our production centers, and finally sending the final product to our customers. We are focused on expanding our “zero-waste model” to our product distribution services as well as to minimize costs and maximize revenue. 

Project Palaash tackles the issue of floral waste by creating organic dyes out of waste flowers. Hence, we are looking for collaborations with organisations that work towards a similar goal as ours. Organisations that promote natural dyeing and work towards sustainable fashion would be a great fit. 

We’re hoping to get in a decent number of collaborations so that we’re able to advance our solution while reducing carbon footprints and harmful emissions without compromising much on the quality of work.

We’re also keen to work with organisations that work towards preserving and restoring the ecosystem or organisations that can support our Research & Development and lend us technical expertise to streamline our production activities. We’re planning to launch new verticals in palaash for which we’ll need to get in touch with organisations working in a similar domain which will help us broaden the ambit of Project Palaash.