Each start-up surfaces with a striking idea, starts with just a fundamental insight which has happened by virtue of Phool.co. Business visionary Ankit Agarwal’s Phool.co (Flower) is an endeavour to wipe out flower waste from the holy Ganges in Kanpur and reuse it. On a cool winter morning in 2015, during Makar Sankranti a youngster who was visiting the city of Kanpur, witnessed the vibrant flowers being unloaded from the holy temples to the river Ganga. Further the dumping transformed into mulch, with passage of time. Gradually mulches start losing its colour to the water making it more contaminated and poisonous with mixtures smothering the oxygen level leading to undermining of the marine life.
He sought to repurpose this toxic trash from spots of worship into something resourceful. Flowers recycled to incense and vermicomposting were conceptualized. Efforts lasted longer than 18 months. Purpose was to save the stream Ganga. Novel methods to transform waste into biodegradable bundling and bio-calfskins were introduced. The cast-off flowers were repurposed and used to make paper, handmade incense sticks and incense cones. Local women from marginalized sections were hired for the tasks.
The outcome of the initiative was 11060 tons of used flowers were renewed to paper, incense sticks and cones. The inventive thought have offset 110 metric loads of substance pesticides that entered the waterway through religious temple offerings. It also empowered women and created employability to the marginalized.
Not only did the Phool.co turn into the drive that won the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge.
Phool.co has been bestowed with worldwide acknowledgments including the United Nations Young Leaders Award for Sustainable Development Goals, United Nations Momentum of Change Award at COP 2018, Asia Sustainability Award 2020, Hong Kong, Alquist Transforming Lives Awards, London and Breaking the Wall of Science, Berlin and the rundown goes on.
Business visionary Ankit Agarwal’s start-up Phool.Co, breaks the most broadly perceived thinking about new companies that one need to wait until the right opportunity comes our way. He proved this common notion wrong. With his unpopular and unimaginable brilliant idea of flower re- cycling, Phool ensures that devotion doesn’t transform into Pollution. Phool.co is an illustration of how with a little assistance, tech-based social improvement can have colossal impact in areas of waste management.
Entrepreneurship Cell
