From Holy Waste to Flower Power, These Eco-Warriors Are Doing Commendable Work

Maya Vivek and Minal Dalmia from Gundlapochampally village in Kompally are good friends who wanted to do something together. Their enthusiasm and efforts led to the inception of ‘Holy Waste’- a social enterprise that ensures the flowers from temples are processed productively and don’t clog water bodies. Maya and Minal got the idea to start this venture from Kanpur-based brand ‘Help us green’ that process flowers from temples. How the Enterprise Started Maya and Minal would forage the colony’s gardens for flowers and began experimenting at home to understand the process. They finally got a hold of the process by the end of the month and set their first bin at Skandagiri Temple in Secunderabad. Currently, the Holy Waste has 20 bins situated at 20 different temples in the city. They have an auto trolley that empties the bins at their centre four times a week. They also answer emergency calls to pick up flowers from flower shops, wedding venues,  or functions by staying in touch with event managers. Flower Power The flowers thus collected are lugged up in bedsheets and carried to the third floor of their processing unit. A team of women pluck the petals from the semi-dried and wilted flowers. The petals are then dried and powdered to be made into soaps and incense sticks. The stalk and bulbs of flowers are put into compost drums to form natural compost. There is a steady workforce of seven women who have now become experts in their work. The incense sticks and soaps are sold online and at organic bazaars. They also make personalized gifts for occasions. During festival season, Holy Waste processes at least 50 kg of flowers daily. Due to the friends’ efforts, the flowers and garlands don’t end up in the already polluted Hussain Sagar lake. The duo also won the Best Green Startup award under Eco Ideas by Green India Awards 2019.