An English professor and manufacturing is like imagining Shakespeare inventing light! Isn’t it? But that’s what Prof Saji Varghese, an English professor at CHRIST (Deemed to be University), Bengaluru, has done. He has proved that if there is a will to create something all it takes is to observe your surroundings and not give up until you come to a promising conclusion. In conversation with the Machine Maker, he narrated his entire journey and experience of developing natural straws made out of coconut leaves.

Prof. Saji Varghese is from Kerala, the land of coconuts, which used to be his nostalgic childhood has now become the source of his greatest masterpiece. Who knew that the man shuffling between literature books could create a synthetic-free literate society? His entire story inspires and speaks for individuals who are not scared to go beyond what is asked of them and contribute to the making and development of a better Indian lifestyle. “I have always had an interest in problem-solving and to focus on grassroots innovations,” said Prof Varghese.

Automating a process reduces manpower and jobs. But in the case of Prof. Varghese when you automate the process of making straw building machines several people are getting employed, the majority being women from rural India. Global demand added with government and public supporting CSR initiatives is going to make coconut straw making a huge employment opportunity for many. So, his keen interest to find out ways to increase and augment the incomes of poorer communities made him think of great innovation from what merely dried coconut leaves. The straws are an attempt to create an earth a better place to live, one sip at a time!

The Epiphany Moment 

It was a usual walk in the CHRIST (Deemed to be University), campus one day when a couple of fallen dried coconut leaves caught his attention. He couldn’t help but notice that the dried leaves tend to curl from the edges. “This was an epiphany moment for me,” said Prof Varghese. His first thought was to use it as a straw, he took it to a number of processes to observe how the leaves reacted, he cleaned them, noticing the brittle nature of the leaves he tried to soak them in water followed by ironing the leaves and even steaming it for some time. He observed something strange that the leaves started to shine, and on further reading, he came to know that the leaves contain natural wax. He concluded that steaming for 45 seconds was enough to bring all the wax on the surface, and wax is what makes the leaves anti-fungal and hydrophobic.

He started to roll the steamed leaves using a food-grade tube, and the first singular straw out of coconut leaves was made. The moment must be phenomenal, to achieve something so productive out of what we consider as mere waste. But no innovation is a cakewalk, his dedication sure made it seem like one.

The upper side of the leaves would have more wax then the lower surface, that’s why it might have fungus after some time

Prof. Saji Varghese 
English professor, CHRIST (Deemed to be University)

He further looked into the problem and worked for another one and a half years to make his first multi-life straw. Its structure contains, a spiral roll inside and a longitudinal on the outside, the rough sides were famished, and the entire straw was kept together using a food-grade adhesive, imported exclusively from the USA.

This is how he came up with a chemical-free, anti-fungal, and water-resistant straw with a life of 6 hours inside any beverage and with 180 days of shelf-life. The reason being its tendency to generate natural wax, other than the coconut leaves have antioxidant properties that make the straw a healthier option over plastic or paper, as paper straws are supposed to be dipped in paraffin or beeswax. Therefore, it was a simple innovation to drive an extraordinary green change. 

Rising Production, Diversifying Products 

Never settling for good enough and always doing a little bit more is what great visionaries do. After decoding the correct method of making the straws, Saji shifted his focus to increasing productivity, he required a change from complete manual operations to a distributed and mechanised system. He initially had the capacity of making 150 to 200 straws per day, he kept his global option open. Various things added to the rise and spreading of the word, the major way was through a youtube video made by his students which drew international attention from not less than 10 countries.

Realizing the growing demand, he came up with a two-tier production system, where he took the opportunity to not only expand his reach but to provide employment to the women and the elderly

The women need to clean and remove the broomstick from the leaves followed by steaming them and making it into a long ribbon, and they end up rolling them on spools. The second stage is when those spools are taken to the production centre and with an integrated machinery system for the other processes. They are able to achieve an endless chain of making straws. It has reduced their production time as well as enhanced their capacity.

Their growth has been phenomenal, from 200 straws per day they can now produce up to 6000 straws with 8 women working for 6 hours

He further plans to diversify on the green product upfront by introducing, Kera sheen, a dishwashing scrub made out of coconut leaves and Kera coaster, a drink coaster from pressed and hardened leaf cushion. Both the products provide sustainable alternatives to plastic and synthetic common use of household products.

Waste as Resource 

With the raw material being completely natural, the sufficiency was an initial apprehension for them but with further surveys, they concluded that Karnataka alone has 5 lakh coconut trees. The leaves which are generally burned by coconut harvesters are now put to its best use and have become a good source of earning for the farm owners. Their structure has made the farm owners make a revenue of around Rs 200 from the dried leaves which used to be of no resource for them. 

Local Innovation, Global Reach

Prof. Varghese also talked about how a lot of funding goes into R&D, which makes them expect monetary grants from the government. The current finances are provided to them by CHRIST (Deemed to be University) and a few indirect sources but for meeting the global demand for around 20 million straws only form UAE and many huge orders from other countries, they expect funding supports from potential providers, in for of investment and collaborations.

Their innovation has been appreciated globally. Participating in “Climate Launchpad” in Chennai, they made it to reach the finals at Scotland where they were honoured as the innovation with the greatest social impact. The entire journey of bagging the award was overwhelming as being the first-ever team from India to represent at the climate launchpad.

He stands with more than 18 million straw orders from abroad and with a vision to employ more than 500 women in the coming years. He has taken rural outgrowth to an appreciable number

This is not only a revolutionary innovation for bettering the lifestyles of the consumers but has contributed to empowering the country with employment and creating sustainable environmental conditions. He has created a benchmark to learn from and not restrict ourselves to the job profiles. The entire journey has spoken for itself, and the greatest thing to learn is that no observation is a small one and all it takes to do something is to think of doing something. His story gives justice to never settling for less than your dreams, somewhere, sometime, someday, somehow, you'll find them. Keep the innovator inside you alive, you never know your next walk can give the country its next innovation. 

For more details visit- www.sunbirdstraws.com