A teacher-student relationship is always not measured in terms of academics. In the case of Professor Saji Varghese and Chirag MG, it is more entrepreneurial, sustainable and innovative.

Co-founders of Sunbird Straws, a social enterprise incubated out of Indian Institute of Management Bangalore’s (IIM-B) NSRCEL in 2023, the ‘green changemakers’ are taking one step at a time for transforming agri-waste into essential products through innovation.

Sunbird Straws focuses on producing one of the first premium multi-layered drinking straws and pens made from dried coconut leaves.

While innovation has partially yielded them success, it is the rural women workforce who are proactively driving the vision forward by producing straws from agri-waste and contributing to the change.

Through this initiative, they have contained 451kg of carbon dioxide emission, replaced over 20 lakh single-use plastic straws, and have employed over 100 women across the rural areas of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Kerala so far.

Festive offer
straw use In the coming days, Sunbird Straws is set to commission a new generation machine that can produce the straws in under one second.

The idea for Sunbird Straws was sown in 2017 by Varghese, who is an English professor at Christ University in Bengaluru, Chirag told The Indian Express.

Both Chirag and Varghese-who is a grassroot level innovator- were inspired by the ban on single-use plastic in India that kicked in during July 2022. They realized the menace of single use plastic straws opened up a vacuum in the market to replace them. with sustainable straws made out of agri-waste, especially coconut leaves.

“It was the 3rd of October 2017. I chanced upon a fallen coconut leaf in the campus with one of its leaves pointing upwards, curled like a straw. It was this sight which gave me the insight of converting it into a straw. After hundreds of iterations spanning two years, we have now developed the patented multi-layered straw which is a chemical free, naturally shiny, viable, efficient, and fully functional straw,” said Varghese.

Chirag who specializes in technology said that currently, they use a fourth generation machine that converts dried coconut leaves into straws wherein it produces around 10,000 straws every day. Chirag who specializes in technology said that currently, they use a fourth generation machine that converts dried coconut leaves into straws wherein it produces around 10,000 straws every day.

Their surveys indicated that close to 200 straws could be made from one naturally dried and fallen compound leaf.

Chirag said, “In a survey of 15 villages in Karnataka, we found that most of the farmers burn these leaves in landfills or kitchens. However, our innovation presents itself to be a solution that can convert these leaves into a product that creates value and solves a wicked global problem. In fact, the amount of coconut trees in India is enough to cater to the global demand for sustainable straws.”

Chirag who specializes in technology said that currently, they use a fourth generation machine that converts dried coconut leaves into straws wherein it produces around 10,000 straws every day. Further, the innovation employs 25-30 women in one assembly line. They have six centers in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu where rural women – who are the breadwinners for their families – are trained and engaged in the production of these straws. They earn close to Rs 280-Rs 300 per day. Chirag plans to transition into a profit sharing model to increase the earnings of these women.

Further, they source the coconut leaves by purchasing from coconut growing farmers across India. Interestingly, in another effort, they procure leaflets of the coconut broom sticks from the self-help groups, and in turn incentivize them. In fact, they have also received expressions of interest from coconut growing farmers for collaboration from 11 states.

saji The idea for Sunbird Straws was sown in 2017 by Saji Varghese, who is an English professor at Christ University in Bengaluru.

In the coming days, Sunbird Straws is set to commission a new generation machine that can produce the straws in under one second, compared to 45 seconds using the earlier machine, which will significantly boost their productivity.

“We tread the fine balance of upgrading technology only to enable more and more women to be engaged to meet the global demand. Soon we plan to produce other coconut leaves products, including scrubbers, pouches, coasters, table mats, and a few others. We have an ambitious goal of replacing all the plastic straws. In addition, we want to empower women in rural areas so that they can improve the living standards of their families,” said Chirag.

Sunbird Straws mostly sell their products to B2B clients like luxury hotels and restaurants. They have raised around Rs 2.6 million through their own funds and grants from various institutions and foundations.