Growing by going green

Think big — start small — scale fast, would be the motto of any entrepreneur who wishes to start a small-scale industry. With a populous country such as India, our best chance at eliminating pollution is by going green. This Deepavali, we look at a few change-making small-scale businesses that are going environment-friendly and also introducing something out of the box for the festive season.

Chakra Design Studio
Started in 2011 by two like-minded friends, Bindu Kasinadhuni and Saranya, Chakra Design Studio specialises in simple and organic kalamkari designs. Their fabrics are created using fully traditional methods. The manufacturing process doesn’t pollute water bodies and their dyes are organic. The studio also employs women groups for activities like hand-block printing, hand weaving and smocking.

Saranya talks about the new line of products introduced for the season stating, “The new collection of Chakra features a lot of embroidery details and patchwork. The embroidery is done by a local artisan group of women. There are different types of smocking which are done by a group of women who are hearing impaired from a local convent. The fabrics used are all hand-woven, hand-block printed with natural dyes on organic cotton/cotton and linen fabrics. Madder red and indigo form the core.”

The Milagro
Spread across 30 acres of organic farms in the cool green belts of Ooty, The Milagro (based in Chennai) acquires the natural produce to manufacture products like oregano, basil, thyme, chilli flakes, rosemary and other mixed herbs. The proprietor Sreehari Shete introduces a new hamper. “Our hamper has sets of mixed herbs and organic soaps like lemon grass soap made by vegetable oil produced from the coconuts of our own farms and a set of organic candles too,” reveals Sreehari.

The hamper box is made from recycled wood with jute detailing on the top. He adds, “Keeping green is one of our primary goals. We need to follow conscious consumption and respect farm produce and treat the environment like how we used to in the olden days!”

Ganya Oil
From different chekkus, where oil is traditionally made, Tharakeshwari Palanisamy the founder of Ganya oils presents a range of health and beauty care products. The brand focuses on promoting traditional methods of health and beauty. Minimalising the heat that is generated from machinery, the oils produced at Ganya are only done from hand work. “We believe in sun-dying instead of machine dryers — it reduces heat produced and also retains the nutrients in the nuts and seeds from which oil is extracted. No preservatives are added and no chemicals are injected,” shares Thara.

Introducing virgin coconut oil from coconut milk, for Deepavali, Thara reiterates that coconut oil is  good for health and natural beauty. Eliminating plastic completely, Ganya oils come in metal tins which can be stored longer.

Namma Suvai
Kick-started by two young mothers Sirisha Sumanth and Divya Pamuru, Suvai was born with a need of providing healthy food for their own kids. A farm-to-home initiative, Namma Suvai delivers vegetables, fruits, nuts and spices and other kitchen supplies directly. The farms in Sri Perumbuthur and Kanchipuram contribute for most of the harvest and are organically grown without fertilisers or polluting chemicals. Red rice batter, millet batter and more are the highlights.
Talking about the Deepavali special, Sirisha reveals, “We feel that we are indulging and that we are doing something wrong if we eat snacks. But we are not! This time we introduce laddus with no sugary fat. As kids, many of us remember snack time involving pottukadalai and jaggery or a groundnut urundai. This is indeed our culture. We are part of the environment cycle. If we grow crops the right way and eat the right way, we’ll keep the environment sustainable.”

Shakti Ganapathy Furniture
While one might think that wood cutting is not exactly going green, the founder of Shakti Ganapathy Furniture, Reshma Chengappa differs on her opinion. “We are focused on going green. We use grown timber. Timber is a tree that absorbs carbon in the atmosphere when it is in the growing stages and becomes carbon neutral when it matures. They aren’t of any use when they are grown — we can rather re-plant new ones. Our furniture lasts for three to four generations because we avoid nails and only do an oil finish which makes it ever lasting!”
Eliminating the use and throw culture of furniture which demands a lot of wood thereby increasing deforestation, Shakti Ganapathy makes furnitures that connect with the family and stay for longer than usual. For this season they have introduced Jyotsna Sofa. It comes with a double cushion in contrasting colours, made from padauk wood and  finished with tung oil.