Kanpur youngsters become 'Start-up ambassador' from UP

A Kanpur duo has turned out to be a true ambassador from Uttar Pradesh for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's ambitious "Start-up" project.With an aim to do their bit for society and the environment, two Kanpur youngsters Karan Rastogi and Ankit Agarwal, both 27, are not only converting floral waste from temples and mazars into incense sticks and soaps, but also providing employment to several women and free education to their children. The youths, who gave up their independent ventures to focus on their start-up called HelpUsGreen, have already bagged several awards from different renowned institutes for their initiatives.Ankit, who was in Lucknow told UNI here today that, that they started their venture to preserve the countrys rivers by making better use of the floral waste rather than allowing it to rot or pollute the rivers."We started our venture by collecting flowers thrown around small temples,"he said. Presently, they export the entire production of perfumed incense sticks, nearly 300 boxes daily. All the incense boxes are exported to Switzerland, they claimed.Ankit while claiming that they plan to expand their project to Varanasi and Allahabad, said their main moto will be to participate in the Clean Ganga programme by collecting the waste from the banks of the river.Currently, their venture collects about one tonne of floral waste daily from 13 temples and three mazars, transports it to the backyard of the duos homes and after sifting out waste and other materials, the flowers are divided into two heaps one for making incense sticks and soaps and the other for vermincompost.They put the first consignment of incense sticks for sale online at HelpUsGreen.com and were surprised with the response. Besides incense, a few other products, like handmade bathing soaps, are sold online.The incense sticks are made in 11 different fragrances and soaps in eight fragrances. Part of the money earned from sale of the products is used to educate children of the women who work with the start-up. The duo is also planning to set up a centre for vocational training where children will be taught skills of other jobs, too. Just a year old, HelpUsGreen was the winner of the Tata Social Enterprise Challenge 2015-16 held recently at the Indian Institute of Management, Calcutta (IIMC) and bagged the top prize money of Rs 2 lakh. The event celebrates the countrys most promising early-stage social enterprises that can bring about long-term solutions to Indias social problems. The duo had also won IIM -Indore Kalpratru award and ISB-Idea award for young entrepreneur. Sharing their success story, Ankit said: While doing my masters, Karan and I discussed about flower heaps lying at the Parmat temple in Kanpur and their disposal in the Ganga. I took the issue up as a class project. Two years later when I decided to move to Kanpur, we decided to launch HelpUsGreen. Earlier, Ankit worked at Symantec Corporation for three years. Elaborating the work process, Karan, a Delhi University graduate, also said: First we separate milk packets, garland threads, paper and silver/plastic bowls. We add earthworms, dung and a 17 recipe mixture to the waste. The earthworms eat up this mixture to produce vermicompost (fertiliser).''Our incense sticks are hand rolled and dipped in pure essential oils sourced organically, said Ankit, who is a Bachelor in Engineering and Masters in Innovation Management.UNI MB SV 1222

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