Do you know that, on moderate, making herbal leather-based leads to 17 kg of CO2 emissions consistent with sq. metre? Which means that every bag or pair of trainers contributes to the discharge of a number of kilograms of carbon dioxide all over manufacturing.
This raises the query of whether or not we actually want animal leather-based luxurious when it comes at such an environmental price. In spite of the business’s endured luck, many innovators are actually providing eco-friendly and sustainable possible choices to conventional leather-based.
Amongst those innovators is Suresh S R, a 50-year-old areca palm grower from Shivamogga, who has advanced a 100% herbal, chemical-free vegan leather-based produced from areca leaves and husk.
“I sought after to do one thing cutting edge and excellent for the surroundings as a result of we take so much from nature and provides again not anything. So I considered running against lowering the large quantity of carbon emission brought about via 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 once born in a small the town in Karnataka known as Sringeri. “Coming from an agricultural circle of relatives, rising up, all I noticed round me was once nature. I take into account working round within the farms and feeling comfortable,” he says, including that areca palm bushes have been plentiful in his the town.
Areca plant is a number one business crop within the southern districts of Karnataka, overlaying multiple lakh hectares of land. “It was once so not unusual for us to identify them rising round the home and within the neighbourhood. I might tear its leaves and play with it,” he says.
Suresh moved to Shivamogga in 1992 and began a industry in 1995. He started a project coping with laptop gross sales and products and services, together with instrument building. “One notable mission concerned developing instrument for number one land building banks throughout Karnataka. We effectively applied the instrument in round 100 branches, and it continues to run effectively after 28 years,” he informs.
However after finishing a few years within the industry, he yearned to discover new pastures.
“Whilst I sought after to take a look at one thing cutting edge and nature-friendly, I used to be now not positive the place to search for inspiration. However you know the way the announcing is going; you to find excellent issues while you’re now not having a look! Neatly, that was once exactly what took place to me. I stumbled upon how other people have been making fibre-based leather-based,” he stocks.
So deciding to pursue crafting vegan leather-based, he began on the lookout for an acceptable plant. That’s when his excellent outdated adolescence friend got here to his rescue. “I recalled how areca palm leaves changed into strong when dried within the solar and soaked in water. I knew there was once possible within the course I used to be heading,” he remarks.
Since Suresh had 0 revel in within the box, he began having a look on-line to test if any person was once doing one thing equivalent.
“That is after I found out Tjeerd Veenhoven, founded within the Netherlands, who shared equivalent pursuits. We collaborated to carry this concept to existence, and he changed into my mentor all over that length. He helped me perceive the method of changing vegetation into leather-based and performed a a very powerful position within the analysis and building of the fibre,” he stocks.
“Right now, 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 goods,” he provides.
So in any case in 2020, Suresh co-founded Bhoomi Agri Ventures together with his spouse Maithili, or even were given a patent for the generation.
Vegan, chemical-free and biodegradable
Suresh informs once a year, they get a yield of roughly 4,000 to 4,500 naturally shed leaves from a unmarried hectare. So there’s no want to lower any a part of the tree to acquire the uncooked subject matter; it naturally sheds.
Speaking about how the fibre is extracted from the plant, he says, “We harness the advisable qualities of areca leaves, that have two kinds of fibres. We extract those fibres and in addition utilise the husk. Up to now, other people would discard the husk via burning it in gardens or alongside roadsides. I assumed, why now 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 — necessarily turning what was once as soon as thought to be waste into wealth. Up to now, other people used those leaves as firewood, however now they’re being repurposed into plates and quite a lot of different pieces,” he informs.
Whilst Suresh had cracked the code for the usage of areca, he got here throughout a subject.
“The sheet is normally round one and a part toes in period and one and a part toes in width. Because of this dimension limitation, we couldn’t create many stuff from a unmarried sheet. The sheet had to be elongated, making an allowance for flexible use throughout quite a lot of spaces,” he stocks.
Final yr, in Would possibly-June, all over the G20 Summit, he was once invited via the Executive of India invited to arrange his stall in Hyderabad.
“And proper beside us was once the ICR Calcutta stall. They discussed having a selected gum for the problem we have been going through. So I performed intensive analysis on fibre and equipped them with all of the essential information and uncooked fabrics,” he stocks, including that he advanced a biodegradable gum with ICR Kolkata and purchased the rights from the institute.
With the exception of their eco-friendly imaginative and prescient, Suresh says additionally they center of attention on uplifting marginalised communities within the area. “I hook up with the SHGs in and round Shivamogga and my homeland Sringeri to coach girls in extracting the fibre and stitching other merchandise,” he says.
Up to now, he has been running with 4 Self Lend a hand Teams (SHG), making merchandise, corresponding to sandals, ebook covers, self-importance baggage, pen stands, and many others, with vegan leather-based.
“My buyer base is unfold throughout India and normally is composed of companies and motels. Nearly all of the patrons are from Karnataka and Maharashtra. Whilst maximum of them are companies, the goods are available for purchase in retail and thru our web page,” he provides.
D S Ramesh, who works in a pharma corporate, says he was once in search of helpful and eco-friendly merchandise when he got here throughout Suresh’s project. “Generally, you are going to handiest to find merchandise made with plastic or leather-based available in the market. But if I discovered Suresh’s corporate, I bought pen stands in bulk, and all my pals and shoppers liked it. The goods are of serious high quality, sturdy, and nature-friendly,” he provides.
Speaking concerning the want for those merchandise, Suresh explains, “Our vegan leather-based is similar to standard animal leather-based when it comes to houses. Remarkably, whilst generating one sq. metre of standard 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 selection calls for handiest 500 to 600 litres of water for a similar house. Moreover, our vegan leather-based is reusable.”
He concludes via announcing, “Why opt for a extremely poisonous product that harms nature when there’s a higher selection to be had? This corporate and this leather-based is my means of giving again to the surroundings.”
(Edited via Pranita Bhat; All photos courtesy: Suresh S R)