Bluecat Paper @ Bengaluru
Growing up amidst Coorg’s pure magnificence, Kavya Madappa’s skilled life has been rooted in sustainability. After launching the eco-friendly Amanvana Spa Resort in Coorg in 2009, Kavya moved onto the sustainable manufacturing of tree-free paper with Bluecat Paper in 2018. “I launched the label with the belief that alternate solutions of paper have to be explored in order to reduce the burden on trees,” says the 47-year-old.
Wine holders at Bluecat Paper
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During her analysis, Kavya found that India cuts down “millions of trees annually for paper production despite abundant agricultural and textile waste”. “This motivated me to create a circular, sustainable alternative,” she says, including that the title ‘Bluecat Paper’ was impressed by the concept of rarity and uniqueness. “Just like a blue cat would be rare, our tree-free paper stands out as a rare alternative in a wood-pulp-dominated industry”.
Today, Kavya crafts over 150 eco-friendly paper and paper-based merchandise made with 15+ different fibres
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Today, Kavya crafts over 150 eco-friendly paper and paper-based merchandise made with 15+ different fibres from agricultural, and textile waste. These embody present wrapping paper, baggage, notebooks, sketchbooks, calendars, greeting playing cards, and even specialty papers corresponding to denim paper and seed paper. As for the uncooked supplies, they comprise banana fibre, lemongrass, rice stubble, coconut coir, corn husk, espresso husk, flax, hemp, water hyacinth, cotton rag offcuts, linen, denim waste from textile manufacturing corporations. “Other natural sources include mulberry bark, elephant dung, etc. Our materials are sourced locally from farms, monetising farmers, textile units, and other industries that would otherwise send these by-products to landfills or burn them,” says Kavya, who’s now experimenting with supplies corresponding to pineapple leaves, tea husk, amongst others.
Kavya Madappa
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“Our recent highlight is denim paper made from recycled textile waste, which is now being used by fashion brands for bags and packaging. We are working on spent barley paper, a by-product from breweries, which will launch later this year. Developing a hybrid low-energy paper-making machine is also on the cards,” says Kavya.
Details on bluecatpaper.com
Books at Paperdom
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Paperdom, Surat
Banana fibre and textile waste are become notebooks, bookmarks, playing cards, and extra at Ritu Richa Jain’s start-up, Paperdom. The 40-year-old launched the model in 2012 after stints as a junior analysis fellow at IIT Mumbai, artwork consultancy, and dealing within the paper buying and selling enterprise.
Ritu says she had deliberate to pursue a PhD, however throughout her time researching at IIT Mumbai, she realised that “the scientific path wasn’t bringing me joy”. She then returned to her hometown of Surat, and took on numerous roles: a stint with an NGO, a collaboration with an Ahmedabad-based artwork gallery, and finally becoming a member of her father’s 35-year-old printing press. “It was here, surrounded by towering stacks of paper in the warehouse, that I began questioning the environmental cost of cutting down entire forests to make sheets of paper,” says Ritu, who had the concept to launch Paperdom when she got here throughout paper created from elephant dung on the press.
Ritu Richa Jain
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Her curiosity led her to Sanganer, close to Jaipur, the hub of handmade paper in India, the place she spent almost two months studying the craft at an area institute. “This blend of scientific discipline, creative exploration, and a deep-rooted connection to the printing trade became the foundation for my entrepreneurial leap into sustainable papermaking,” says Ritu, who began off by making paper utilizing textile waste and post-harvest banana plant waste. and later shifted to stationery. “This choice is driven by a focus on viability and reduced logistics costs, as Surat is a major textile hub and the southern part of Gujarat up to Maharashtra is densely populated with banana plantations. We tie-up with garment factories, hotels, and farmer clusters for the raw material,” she explains.
Paperdom’s making unit
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Once collected, the supplies bear processing in-house. Cotton rags are collected from native garment factories, says Ritu, and banana fibre is extracted in a seven-step technical course of utilizing indigenous equipment put in in or round banana plantations. “Both the raw materials have their own set of pre-processing steps. While cotton rags just need sorting before being shredded in a rag chopper, banana fibre is cut, cooked and washed before shredding. The shredded fibres go into the Hollander beater and are mixed with water to be converted into pulp of different concentrations,” says Ritu. This course of takes wherever between three to six hours relying on the fibre used. “Water soluble dyes are also added for colourful papers. The pulp is then passed through agitators to maintain consistency and is ready to be converted into sheets that are air-dried.”
Paperdom’s catalogue additionally options plantable rakhis, seed paper playing cards and tags, coasters, and so on
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Handmade stationery corresponding to writing pads, diaries, apart, {the catalogue} additionally options plantable rakhis, seed paper playing cards and tags, coasters, wall artwork, and extra. “On the stationery front, we have new planners and journals in the works, including a gratitude journal and corporate-friendly gifting solutions,” says Ritu, who’s now exploring plant-based leather-based. And at her newly-launched Cafe Pulp, in Surat, guests can browse supplies and craft a product too. “The cafe’s ceiling is crafted from pulp panels, and we’re now working on bringing these panels to the market for use in ceilings and internal partitions,” concludes Ritu.
Details on paperdom.in
Sonali Maniar
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Templetree, Bengaluru
A graphic designer by career, Sonali Maniar had a smooth spot for stationery as a toddler and nonetheless has her collections from school. After being away for 16 years overseas, when she returned to India beginning a stationery retailer was on her thoughts. In 2006, she launched Templetree in Mumbai as a model that retailed celebration favours, present baggage, packing containers, and trays. “I went on to launch two stores in Bengaluru, and one franchise in Hyderabad. Just before COVID hit, I had decided to shut all physical stores and went online-only,” says Sonali, who makes use of handmade paper created from cotton rag/cotton waste which is lowered to pulp.
Products at Templetree
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Today, her catalogue includes notebooks/journals, binders, organisers, memo pads, stationery units, storage options; hampers and packing containers, present wrapping paper, and present baggage. “Cotton aside, other raw materials include agricultural waste, and bamboo. We also make paper from newspapers and magazines.”
Gift packing containers at Templetree
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Taking us by the method of recycling cotton waste, Sonali says it begins by lowering cotton waste to pulp. “The pulp is transferred to large tanks where big trays with fine mesh are submerged into the pulpy water and shaken evenly to make sheets. The pulp sheets are covered with fine muslin cloth and then pressed to remove the water. Once the sheets are dry, they are passed through metal rollers and the rough edges are trimmed,” she explains.
For the upcoming wedding ceremony and festive season, Sonali shall be launching a spread of present baggage, boxesm and hampers to select from.
Details on templetreepaper.com/
