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Do you know that, on common, making pure leather-based ends in 17 kg of CO2 emissions per sq. metre? Which means that every bag or pair of footwear contributes to the discharge of a number of kilograms of carbon dioxide throughout manufacturing.
This raises the query of whether or not we actually want animal leather-based luxurious when it comes at such an environmental value. Regardless of the business’s continued success, many innovators at the moment are providing eco-friendly and sustainable options to conventional leather-based.
Amongst these innovators is Suresh S R, a 50-year-old areca palm grower from Shivamogga, who has developed a 100% pure, chemical-free vegan leather-based made out of areca leaves and husk.
“I wished to do one thing modern and good for the atmosphere as a result of we take quite a bit from nature and provides again nothing. So I considered working in direction of decreasing the huge quantity of carbon emission brought on by the leather-based business,” Suresh, who’s the co-founder of Bhoomi Agri Ventures tells The Higher India.
‘Rising up in nature motivated me’
Suresh was born in a small city in Karnataka known as Sringeri. “Coming from an agricultural household, rising up, all I noticed round me was nature. I keep in mind working round within the farms and feeling blissful,” he says, including that areca palm bushes had been considerable in his city.
Areca plant is a main industrial crop within the southern districts of Karnataka, overlaying multiple lakh hectares of land. “It was so widespread for us to identify them rising round the home and within the neighbourhood. I’d tear its leaves and play with it,” he says.
Suresh moved to Shivamogga in 1992 and began a enterprise in 1995. He started a enterprise coping with laptop gross sales and providers, together with software program improvement. “One notable undertaking concerned creating software program for main land improvement banks throughout Karnataka. We efficiently carried out the software program in round 100 branches, and it continues to run efficiently after 28 years,” he informs.
However after finishing a few years within the enterprise, he yearned to discover new pastures.
“Whereas I wished to attempt one thing modern and nature-friendly, I used to be undecided the place to search for inspiration. However you know the way the saying goes; you discover good issues if you’re not trying! Nicely, that was exactly what occurred to me. I stumbled upon how folks had been making fibre-based leather-based,” he shares.
So deciding to pursue crafting vegan leather-based, he began trying to find an appropriate plant. That’s when his good previous childhood pal got here to his rescue. “I recalled how areca palm leaves turned sturdy when dried within the solar and soaked in water. I knew there was potential within the course I used to be heading,” he remarks.
Since Suresh had zero expertise within the subject, he began trying on-line to verify if somebody was doing one thing related.
“That is after I found Tjeerd Veenhoven, primarily based within the Netherlands, who shared related pursuits. We collaborated to convey this concept to life, and he turned my mentor throughout that interval. He helped me perceive the method of changing vegetation into leather-based and performed a vital position within the analysis and improvement of the fibre,” he shares.
“Presently, I export the plant-based leather-based I produce in India to him within the Netherlands, the place he transforms it into a various vary of merchandise,” he provides.
So lastly in 2020, Suresh co-founded Bhoomi Agri Ventures alongside together with his spouse Maithili, and even received a patent for the expertise.
Vegan, chemical-free and biodegradable
Suresh informs yearly, they get a yield of roughly 4,000 to 4,500 naturally shed leaves from a single hectare. So there isn’t any want to chop any a part of the tree to acquire the uncooked materials; it naturally sheds.
Speaking about how the fibre is extracted from the plant, he says, “We harness the useful qualities of areca leaves, which have two forms of fibres. We extract these fibres and in addition utilise the husk. Beforehand, folks would discard the husk by burning it in gardens or alongside roadsides. I believed, why not repurpose it as an alternative?” he says.
This extracted fibre is dried after which processed to make vegan leather-based. “We create our merchandise from this leather-based — basically turning what was as soon as thought-about waste into wealth. Previously, folks used these leaves as firewood, however now they’re being repurposed into plates and numerous different objects,” he informs.
Whereas Suresh had cracked the code for utilizing areca, he got here throughout a problem.
“The sheet is often round one and a half toes in size and one and a half toes in width. As a result of this measurement limitation, we couldn’t create many issues from a single sheet. The sheet wanted to be elongated, permitting for versatile use throughout numerous areas,” he shares.
Final yr, in Could-June, in the course of the G20 Summit, he was invited by the Authorities of India invited to arrange his stall in Hyderabad.
“And proper beside us was the ICR Calcutta stall. They talked about having a particular gum for the difficulty we had been dealing with. So I carried out intensive analysis on fibre and supplied them with all the mandatory information and uncooked supplies,” he shares, including that he developed a biodegradable gum with ICR Kolkata and acquired the rights from the institute.
Other than their eco-friendly imaginative and prescient, Suresh says additionally they concentrate on uplifting marginalised communities within the area. “I join with the SHGs in and round Shivamogga and my hometown Sringeri to coach ladies in extracting the fibre and stitching completely different merchandise,” he says.
To date, he has been working with 4 Self Assist Teams (SHG), making merchandise, comparable to sandals, e book covers, vainness luggage, pen stands, and so on, with vegan leather-based.
“My buyer base is unfold throughout India and often consists of companies and resorts. Nearly all of the consumers are from Karnataka and Maharashtra. Whereas most of them are companies, the merchandise are that can be purchased in retail and thru our web site,” he provides.
D S Ramesh, who works in a pharma firm, says he was looking out for helpful and eco-friendly merchandise when he got here throughout Suresh’s enterprise. “Sometimes, you’ll solely discover merchandise made with plastic or leather-based available in the market. However when I discovered Suresh’s firm, I bought pen stands in bulk, and all my associates and shoppers liked it. The merchandise are of nice high quality, sturdy, and nature-friendly,” he provides.
Speaking concerning the want for these merchandise, Suresh explains, “Our vegan leather-based is similar to conventional animal leather-based when it comes to properties. Remarkably, whereas producing one sq. metre of typical animal leather-based calls for roughly 23,000 to 24,000 litres of extremely polluted water, leading to round 17 kg of carbon emissions, our different requires solely 500 to 600 litres of water for a similar space. Moreover, our vegan leather-based is reusable.”
He concludes by saying, “Why go for a extremely poisonous product that harms nature when there’s a higher different obtainable? This firm and this leather-based is my method of giving again to the atmosphere.”
(Edited by Pranita Bhat; All footage courtesy: Suresh S R)
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