Indian start up ‘Help Us Green’ honoured by UN Climate Action Award at 2018 UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24)

The Uttar Pradesh-based start up ‘Help Us Green’ has been honoured by UN Climate Action Award at a special ceremony at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24) in Katowice, Poland for recycling temple waste to spread fragrance. As per UN document, Help Us Green has come up with the world’s first profitable solution to the monumental temple waste problem: flowercycling. It gives marginalised women the chance to earn livelihoods and be respected in their communities through collecting temple ceremonial flowers tossed into the River Ganges and turning them into sustainable incense. The startup collects 8.4 tonnes of floral waste from temples in Uttar Pradesh on a daily basis. These sacred flowers are handcrafted into charcoal-free incense, organic vermicompost and biodegradable packaging material through its ‘flowercycling’ technology. Women collect floral-waste daily from temples. The waste is up-cycled to produce organic fertilisers, natural incense, and biodegradable packaging material.