Podcast: India

89: ECOSTP – Zero Power Zero Chemical Sewage Treatment

When Tharun Kumar saw the lake where his housing complex empties their sewage burn for 14 hours non-stop, he decided to do something about it. He started asking around and realized that the overburdened municipalities had transferred the sewage treatment responsibilities to the home owners. We chat with Tharun Kumar, founder and CEO of EcoSTP Technologies – an IT professional who wanted to be the person who not just talks about change but brings about change. He did so by starting a mission-driven company that uses existing sustainable practices and knowledge to treat sewage and delivers executable DIY kits to home owners. Using biomimicry, regenerative innovation inspired by nature, the ECOSTP utilizes functional principles and strategies of microorganisms and ecosystems found in a cow’s stomach. Using gravity and anaerobic bacteria ECOSTP it treats sewage without the use of pumps/blowers used in conventional sewage treatment plants to convert sewage water into clear water. Their system overall has lower operational and maintenance costs and its flexible design can be adapted even in existing housing complexes and in new developments.

ECOSTP addresses six UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and is selected as a Best Practice case study for United Nations ESCAP SDG Sustainability Asia Pac report. Learn more in this episode.

http://www.ecostp.com/
https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Read More
Cover
Design and Innovation
89: ECOSTP - Zero Power Zero Chemical Sewage Treatment
Loading
/

84: Praan and Carboncraft Design- Purify Ambient Air and Upcycled Carbon Tiles

Countries must meet their sustainability goals and head towards net-zero. These goals cannot be achieved in silos but need cooperation, trust, and partnerships. We bring two such sustainable start-ups which are from adjacent industries with one firm goal – to reduce the carbon emissions and air pollutants from the air. Today we speak with Angad Daryani – CEO and founder of Praan – Clean Air For all, and Tejas Sidnal – founder of Carbon Craft Design – Upcycled Carbon Tiles.

Praan captures the carbon with the world’s most advanced, low-cost, filterless, and artificially intelligent outdoor air purification system. Angad who, ranked amongst the top 3 in his class, dropped out of high school in 9th grade – though he stopped formal education, he continued learning and innovating. His passion for sustainability gave rise to the patented innovation that creates hyperlocal clean air zones within open areas on corporate campuses, schools, universities, hotels, hospitals, residential complexes, malls, industrial areas, and more!

Praan captures the CO2 and carbon particulates that they hand over to Carbon Craft Designs who then creates tiles. Each tile prevents 15 minutes of car pollution – 5 kgs of carbon – dioxide equivalents. Carbon Craft Design strives to be at the intersection of Craft, Design, and Technology with the sole aim of building scalable solutions. Tejas, a practicing architect, talks about the fact that the world builds twelve New Yorks every year. Its impact and his role as an architect and being part of the problem made him uneasy. He decided to do something about it and reduce the impact of new construction projects by developing carbon-neutral building materials. A chance meeting at a conference in 2016 and mutual respect brought Angad Daryanai and Tejas Sidnal to collaborate to bring their solutions to market. Listen to this energetic duos’ passion and story in this episode.

https://www.carboncraftdesign.com/
https://www.praan.io/
https://www.mindfulbusinessespodcast.com/

Read More
Cover
Architecture
84: Praan and Carboncraft Design- Purify Ambient Air and Upcycled Carbon Tiles
Loading
/

78: Thaely – Don’t Just Do It – Do It Right

We talk with Ashay Bhave, founder of Thaely, who as a middle-schooler dreamt of becoming a sneaker designer. His journey begins at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York, where disenchanted within the first year, he returned back to Dubai to pursue a degree in business at Amity University. As a designer Ashay wanted to solve problems – the problem of plastic grocery bag waste – we consume 3 trillion of them annually. After some near fires in his kitchen, he developed a product Thaely Tex. Thaely is made with 100% recycled raw materials. Each sneaker uses ThaelyTex that’s made using 10 upcycled waste plastic bags. ThaelyTex is made in collaboration with TrioTap Technologies in Gurugram, India. The waste plastic bags are collected from housing complexes, offices, and stores from in and around Gurugram, India. The lining is made with rPET (Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate is a fabric made from recycling waste PET Plastic Bottles) using 12 Recycled waste plastic bottles. With their partnership with The Shoe Laundry, the sneakers are either refurbished or recycled. Each pair is also packaged in a reusable rPET. Every component of the shoe and its process is looked into great detail to achieve Thaely’s sustainability goals. Come along and learn more in this episode.

Read More
Cover
Design and Innovation
78: Thaely - Don’t Just Do It - Do It Right
Loading
/

68: Beejom Farm – Animal Sanctuary and Sustainable Regenerative Agriculture

Beejom is an animal sanctuary and sustainable agricultural farm located in Western Uttar Pradesh. They use natural farming techniques to grow food. The agricultural practices at Beejom are farm animal-centric. We talk to the passionate and energetic Aparna Rajagopal, a lawyer turned conservationist, animal rescuer, and educator. While trying to rescue a horse, she leased farmland to board the horse, and while trying to improve its soil she bought some cows and bulls for their manure – about 150 of them. But they do not use them for dairy. These cattle generate 1000 kgs of dung at the farm on average. Beejom utilizes this dung is to make lovely dung pots and partners with local nurseries in the hope that they stop using plastic covers and start using these beautiful pots for their seedlings. When the seedling outgrows this pot, one can transplant the seedling into the ground along with the pot which is nothing but cow dung manure. A beautiful sustainability project that is great for the environment and an additional income source for the farmer. They have a cow dung log machine and make dung logs that can replicate wood. The logs can be used in crematoriums, bonfires or Havans (religious fires). Come join us on Aparna’s journey on Beejom Farm.

Read More
Cover
Agriculture & Farming
68: Beejom Farm - Animal Sanctuary and Sustainable Regenerative Agriculture
Loading
/

62: Rhino Machines – Silica Plastic Blocks

When Manish Kothari, Managing Director of Rhino Machines and a second-generation entrepreneur involved in the casting and foundry industry in India, saw how dark, dusty and dangerous this industry was to the environment and the workers, he decided to do something about it. He is a social entrepreneur with a passion for innovation who decided to tackle the dust and sand waste that the foundry creates. He reached out to Shridhar Rao, a partner in the architect firm R + D studio to make a brick by combining the foundry dust with plastic to create the first Silica Plastic Block (SPB). The SPB tested 2.5 times stronger than regular brick and it was comparable in cost to the regular bricks in Indian metro cities. They have created a sustainable alternative to traditional brick.

Manish is adamant about not patenting his innovation and in fact, believes in assisting and sharing the know-how with other sustainable entrepreneurs. Learn more about these enterprising, creative and forward-thinking entrepreneurs on Mindful Businesses podcast.

Read More
Cover
India
62: Rhino Machines - Silica Plastic Blocks
Loading
/

61: Emoss – Future Inside

We talk to the energetic Karan Shah, director of Emoss, an Indo – Dutch company that is an independent supplier of fully electric and hybrid powertrains. Based on over 20 years of experience in the development and production of EV and HEV, Emoss not only offers complete electric powertrains for all your vehicles, but it also supplies high-end battery systems, fuel cells, range extenders, generators, power electronics, and control systems suitable for different industries.

Karan talks about how Emoss is working to shape the commercial EV landscape in India. Can such innovations be successful in a nascent market like India and what can legislations and governments do to assist the industry? Karan, Harvard Business School MBA 2016, reflects on how being amongst peers from varied backgrounds gave him a broader perspective and helped him become a better leader and entrepreneur. Listen more on Mindful Businesses podcast.

Read More
Cover
Energy
61: Emoss - Future Inside
Loading
/

45: Green Heirloom – Sustainable Organic Cookware

We chat with Kaviya Cherian, founder of Green Heirloom, as we follow the traditions and customs of traditional cookware in different parts of the world, how our food and cookware are far more connected than we think. Green Heirloom is a unique platform that brings sustainable and eco-friendly cookware from artisans and creators across India to the world. Green Heirloom not only assures quality and a treasured asset that can be bequeathed to generations, but it also helps you to do your bit in sustaining many communities who rely on this traditional occupation. They work with artisans, involve and engage with them at each step of the way, not only to bring to market a product suited for their customers but also to ensure that the artisans are rewarded adequately for their efforts.

Read More
Cover
Design and Innovation
45: Green Heirloom - Sustainable Organic Cookware
Loading
/

42: Phool Co – Made From Temple Flowers

It was the day of Makara Sankranti, an ancient Indian festival marking the end of the winter solstice, celebrated by bathing in the sacred waters of the river Ganges. On that cold winter morning in 2015, Ankit Agarwal, founder of Phool Co took his friend Jakub, who was visiting him from the Czech Republic to see Ghats of the River Ganges. They watched as truckloads of temple flowers were being dumped in the river, and at that very moment, they saw sunlight hit the water and an oily chemical film float onto the surface of the water. Ankit struggled to explain to Jakub, why a river so revered was ignored and polluted and why he couldn’t do anything about it. Ankit visited the temples the next to assess and understand the magnitude of the problem. That day he decided to be the change to create a movement. He founded Phool Co and became the genesis of the ‘flowercycling’ technology. Through innovation, they began to offer products made from temple flowers.

Read More
Cover
Design and Innovation
42: Phool Co - Made From Temple Flowers
Loading
/

30: Diaspora Co – Building a Better Spice Trade

The original intent of colonial conquest of the Indian subcontinent was a desire for domination of the spice trade. 600+ years later, as a young woman born and raised in postcolonial Mumbai, working at the intersection of food and culture, Sana Javeri Kadri founder of @diasporaco, was slowly discovering that not much about that system had changed. Farmers made no money, spices changed hands upwards of 10 times between farmer and consumer, and the final spice on the shelf was usually an old, dusty, and flavorless shadow of what it once was. Living a life between two worlds – India and USA, and mindfully impacting lives in both places. Listen to Sana’s passion in this episode.

Read More
Cover
Food
30: Diaspora Co - Building a Better Spice Trade
Loading
/

24: Inai – Buy With Love

We talk to Shruti Ashok, the founder of Inai. Inai is a creative space, where timeless leather pieces are crafted using upcycled Italian leathers, handmade by skilled Indian artisans in Madras, India. The designs are made to serve a specific purpose — a bag for everyday living, new adventures, emotional milestones and so much more. ‘Inai’ is a Tamil word, derived from ‘Inaippu’ which translates to ‘connection’. – you to connect with what you buy. Inai aims to inspire people to treasure and value the products they consume and the stories behind them.

Read More
Cover
Fashion and Beauty
24: Inai - Buy With Love
Loading
/