Innovation

" Each household, if they reduce their waste, can solve the garbage problem. So, with this intention in mind, there are changes that we have to do with our lifestyle," says Mrs. Vaishali Chauhan, who runs Dhairyansh Green, a store in the capital city of Panaji, Goa.

The store started its operations with a bamboo toothbrush as the owner learned that the first toothbrush was a plastic toothbrush manufactured in 1938, and it is still lying on the planet somewhere. This embarked the journey for Dhairyansh Green, who, with time, added more everyday green products, now the store offers many products like bamboo toothbrushes, earbuds, straws, hairbrushes, washable cloth sanitary pads, cotton bags, seed jewelry, washable baby diapers, etc., all made and packaged from organic products.

Dhairyansh Green has partnered with over 15 companies all over India to manufacture different products and supply these products to retailers and supermarkets. Mrs. Vaishali is now focusing on reducing sanitary waste as it is a category that many overlook, and awareness among people for the segregation and disposal of sanitary waste is lagging. Mrs. Vaishali has been working to bring innovation in women's sanitary napkins to make them affordable and accessible to all.

Inspiration

Mrs. Vaishali, a civil engineer who has practiced interior designing for 13 years, was inspired by the story of the Himalayas turning into a barren wasteland shortly if the pollution and the garbage problem were not solved motivated her to start the firm.

"The journey began with just one Himalaya Trek. My first Himalayan trek, and it changed my mind. Mrs. Vaishali went on a Himalayan trek with her family and fell in love with the place. When they returned from the trip Government of India organized a science express train, which she visited with her son. Mrs. Viashali says, "I don't know whether my son learned anything, but I was shocked by the presented facts. It said that in the next 15 to 20 years, the Himalayas will become deserts and breeding spaces for mosquitoes because of climate change, which completely shook me off."

Mrs. Vaishali felt that she needed to do something. So it was an inner calling; she says she didn't know what to do as a civil engineer and how she will change the environment. Mrs. Vaishali says, "What can we do as individuals? So I said the smallest thing we can do is reduce waste. So I started with a bamboo toothbrush because I learned that the first toothbrush was a plastic toothbrush manufactured in 1938, and it is still lying on the planet somewhere; this was shocking news for me. I founded Dhairyansh Green in October 2017 with the thought of not only simply providing the solution but also spreading awareness and then providing solutions to the people. So this is how the journey started five years back."

Overall impact

The most important benefit of these biodegradable products is their potential to reduce overall waste in the food industry. Instead of discarding tons of plastic to languish in landfills for decades, biodegradable food packaging naturally and completely degrades. Dhairyansh green was able to tap this market and become a trendsetterer in that regard. Dhairyansh Green was able to capitalize on the benefits that biodegradable products have to offer.

Some of the key impacts that their innovations led to lowering production and labour costs and greater efficiency. As they are expanding their business, the material and resource costs are also reduced making their products not just eco-friendly but also cheap rate. They ultimately lowered the waste disposal costs and even provided quality products. Their tremendous work towards creating awareness helped people make conscious about their consumption and contributed to increasing the market share for biodegradable products and eco-friendly substitutes. This improved environmental performance. They also provided a better working environment and business culture for your staff and as they are scaling their business they are contributing to the employment rate also which is beneficial both for the business and society.

Business benefit

In 2017, the initial year of starting the business, it was very difficult to sustain as there were other responsibilities and commitments. Later, COVID-19 hit, and their business barely sustained two employees. But eventually, they had a good turnover, generating Rs 1 lakh per month, which was a huge leap compared to where they started. Starting with just Goan clients, Dhairyansh Green has now reached new heights by building long-term connections with people from different parts of the country.

Also, one of the major challenges they faced was making people aware of the products they were offering. “The biggest challenge is that people were not aware, and I think that was the key that I had to reach out to people,” said Vaishali Chauhan. “But now a lot has changed, and I know that people are more welcoming to this idea." "In fact, now that we have decided, it's been five years, and there are lots of people with different companies and different products,” she added.

Now she feels sanitary waste is something that is one of the major concerns and needs to work on that. She has tied up with the waste pickers and the Panjim Municipal Corporation.

Social and environmental benefit

The founder of Dhairyansh green learned that the first toothbrush was a plastic toothbrush manufactured in 1938, and it is still lying on the planet somewhere. The innovation of producing the day to day products without using plastic will lead to:

1. Less Carbon dioxide- Reducing carbon dioxide is essential because global temperatures are constantly rising and because climate experts are yelling at politicians to come up with a common solution. By reducing plastic waste and consumption, businesses who produce those products will experience a drop in demand, which will result in a decrease in the amount of plastic that enters the market. As a result, the damaging carbon dioxide emissions that are warming the world would be reduced.

2. Safer Environment for Wildlife: Animals on land, in the air, or in the water are impacted by plastic garbage, as you have probably seen on television and in the media. Frequently, fish or turtles get caught in plastic bags or confuse plastic debris for food, which can result in damage or death. Microplastics enter the food you eat when animals eat plastic by accident.

3. Better Human Health: Plastics inevitably have an impact on human health, as they have such an impact on animal health. As was already mentioned, there is probably some plastic in the food you eat. Approximately 120,000 microplastic particles are inhaled or consumed by people each year. Microplastic consumption raises the dangers of chemical exposure and serious health issues.

4. Help employ Local workers: The local worker skilled in providing the service of making the product with the use of organic material, employment will increase with more and more people starting to use organic products.

Interview

Vaishali Chauhan, Founder