For millions of people in India, flowers are a valuable and beautiful way to show devotion to god at places of worship every day. With this significant use of fresh flowers daily at temples, mosques, and gurudwaras all across India, many people don’t realise that these flowers will typically go to waste. Once they have been offered to god, the flowers are often thrown in the Ganges River, where they contribute at least 16% (measured weight) of the total pollution in this river. Each day, thousands of kilograms (tonnes) of floral waste are added to the Ganges.
The Hidden Problem with Temple Flowers
Most people think of flowers as relatively harmless. However, the total waste created from flowers (e.g. fresh/presented and dried) is estimated to add 16% of the total weight of all the pollutants that are dumped into the Ganges River. Every day, many thousands of kilograms (tonnes) of fresh flowers will be thrown away or discarded after being used as offerings to god. Those same flowers that were used as an offering to god are usually loaded with various chemical fertilisers, pesticides, and metals such as arsenic, lead, and cadmium that run off farms onto the flowers, and then ultimately into the Ganges River. As these chemical contaminants dissolve back into the water from the flowers that were dumped in the Ganges River, the solution will also destroy fish and adversely affect the dissolved oxygen levels in the water body and produce highly toxic compounds.\
With close to 400 million people depending on the Ganges River as a primary source of water, the potential toxicity of the water can be overwhelming. The dissolved chemicals significantly change the pH of the water, and it can cause a variety of illnesses distributed from the Ganges River, including severe diarrhoea; responsible for approximately 87.6% of child mortality in the region.
Flowercycling was developed to address this problem.
So What Is Flowercycling?
'Flowercycling' refers to harvesting discarded temple flowers before they go into the Ganges River and turning them into products (such as incense sticks, dhoop sticks, and compost) that promote eco-friendly living. The term 'flowercycling' has been coined and trademarked by HelpUsGreen - a social enterprise based in Kanpur, India. As Ankit Agarwal, the founder of HelpUsGreen, gazed onto the Ganges River - which sustains over 400 million people - he identified a contradiction. While the river is considered a sacred area of worship for so many, millions of worshippers unknowingly contaminate the water through their acts of worship.
His discovery inspired Ankit and Flower Recycling India to assist in restoring the Ganges River through the recycling of flowers.
If you would like to have traditional agarbatti, check out the Natural Agarbatti collections that offer eco-friendly incense from flowers in scents such as rose, sandalwood, lavender, mogra, etc., all of which are made from the flower-cycling process.
How the Flowercycling Process Works - Step by Step
Step 1 - Collecting the Flowers
HelpUsGreen has partnered with local temples and mosques around the city of Kanpur to collect unwanted temple flowers that are discarded in these locations. Small pickup trucks pick up temple flowers on a daily basis to prevent them from being dumped in the river. After picking up these flowers, workers sort through the collected flowers to remove built garland strands, paper plates, and any potential plastics that could have mixed in with the flowers.
Step 2 - Removing Pesticides
Removing pesticides is an essential part of this process. The process starts by treating the collected flowers with a specialised spray applicator containing chemicals that neutralise most major organophosphate insecticides. The neutralisation process leaves behind a residue, which can simply be removed by rinsing the flowers in water. This is what makes temple flower waste recycling at HelpUsGreen different because they do not recycle temple flower waste but also ensure safety by neutralising the pesticide first.
Step 3 - Drying and Grinding
The cleaned flower petals are put out in the sun to dry, and once dry, they are ground into a powder using a grinder. After the flowers are ground, they are combined with natural herbs, resins, and essential oils.
Step 4 - Handcrafted Products
At the HelpUsGreen Centre, our artisan women use their skills to hand-roll the blended powders into dhoop sticks, dhoop cones, and incense sticks. There is no bamboo, no charcoal and no synthetic chemicals used in the process - Just flowers given a second life as eco-friendly incense from flowers.
Step 5 - Eco-Friendly Packaging
Even the packaging process has been designed with the environment in mind, as HelpUsGreen uses biodegradable wrappers that contain Tulsi seeds. After using the wrapper, you can plant it in your garden or yard to help grow Tulsi and continue to provide you with an environmentally sound product.
All the products produced by HelpUsGreen are created from the flowercycling process. To experience this at home, you can start with their Dhoop Sticks collection, which are made without the use of bamboo and chemicals, and only from recycled temple flowers. They burn completely clean and will make your home smell all natural and pure.
The Impact of Flowercycling - Real Numbers
The scale of what flowercycling has achieved is genuinely remarkable.
HelpUsGreen has recycled more than 9,50,060 kgs of waste from flowers and detoxified more than 935 kgs of harmful agricultural pesticides (chemicals). On an average daily basis, HelpUsGreen is responsible for keeping more than 4,400 kgs of waste flowers and 44 kgs of toxic chemicals from entering the river, thus contributing to the health and safety of the river environment.
Beyond the river, what is flowercycling doing for people? HelpUsGreen is also focused on helping to create a better life and opportunity for rural artisans. There are currently more than 128 women artisans employed through the HelpUsGreen project. The artisans are provided with a stable source of income, dignity through a safe workplace, and their children are now attending school. In many cases, families have experienced substantial increases in their income as a result of having stable employment.
This is flower recycling India can be proud of - not just an environmental solution, but a human one.
You can read the full story of how this idea came to life in UNEP's feature on HelpUsGreen's colourful solution to flower waste.
Bottom Line
Flower recycling is India's most beautiful symbol of sustainability today; it transforms something divine, the flower gifted to God, into two sacred acts -- one act of devotion at the temple, another as a clean, natural product with the ability to fill your home with fragrance instead of adding to the pollution in the Ganges River.
Every product we manufacture, whether dhoop sticks or incense, is proof that temple flower waste recycling works - for the rivers, in helping Mother Earth and in providing women with jobs by having the opportunity to create beautiful products from the recycled flowers.
To learn more about all of our flowercycled products, visit our website at helpusgreen.com or contact us directly to discuss wholesale or large orders.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What exactly is flowercycling?
It is the collection of discarded floral materials (and their detoxification of harmful substances, including pesticides) from temples and mosques to create natural, eco-friendly products, including incense sticks and dhoop sticks and compost; an activity which would otherwise contribute to river pollution, including the Ganga River.
2. Who started flowercycling in India?
Flowercycling was initiated by HelpUsGreen, a social enterprise located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, by founder Ankit Agarwal. The term "flowercycling" is trademarked and was also created by Agarwal, based on his observation that the temple flower waste was a large and overlooked source of pollution to the Ganga River.
3. How much flower waste does the Ganga receive every year?
According to HelpUsGreen and additional independent research, between 8 and 10 million tonnes of flower waste is disposed of in India's rivers every year from temples, mosques, and gurudwaras, and much of those flowers are heavily treated with pesticides and/or heavy metals.
4. Are HelpUsGreen products really made from temple flowers?
Yes, they are made from flowers, all of which are collected at temples along the Ganges River in Kanpur. The petals from these flowers are carefully cleaned to ensure that they are free of pesticides and are then dried, ground up, and hand-rolled into finished products by women artisans.
5. Why is flowercycling better for my home than regular incense?
Because the products that we manufacture through our flowercycling process don't contain any bamboo, charcoal, or chemical additives-thereby producing less smoke and fewer toxins when burned indoors. Regular incense typically contains one or more of these ingredients; therefore, when burned, the resulting smoke may create additional pollutants inside your home. The flower-based incense manufactured by HelpUsGreen can be burned with a clean flame, providing you with a truly clean fragrance with no harmful byproducts.
