In the 5th and the 6th sessions of #StartupSeptember, we continue with conversations around sustainability by taking a deeper look at the role played by technology and circular economy in achieving sustainable solutions.
Session 5: Wall-E Loves Trees
Talks of technology and sustainability are often limited to the concept of green IT i.e. the practices of environmentally เว็บดูบอลฟรี sustainable computing. Green IT aims to minimise the negative environmental impact of IT operations by designing, manufacturing, using, and disposing of computers and computer-related products in an eco-friendly manner.
However, the true role of technology in achieving sustainable solutions goes far beyond Green IT. The mindset of “technology ecoadvantage”—using advanced technologies and work models to enable profitable solutions that have a positive impact on net zero and environmental, social, and governance goals—can act as a major accelerant for businesses to achieve sustainable solutions.
A significant benefit of the technology ecoadvantage mindset is that it allows businesses to rethink traditional approaches to technology and set a roadmap for new tech adoption.
Wall-E Loves Trees, the 5th online session of #StartupSeptember, will focus on start-ups that have been innovatively demonstrating the many ways in which technology can be an ally to achieving sustainable solutions. To register click here
Panel Line-up
Rajashri Sai is the founder of Impactree Data Technologies and Zuppa Geonavigation as well as a partnership advisor to Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) and an independent Director of Autoline, a listed company based in Pune. Rajashri sai has been selected as one of Top 30 Tech Super Girls 2021 by Indian Women Institutional League.
Her professional experience as a Lawyer and member of the Institute of Company Secretary of India, allows her to collate lessons insights from both the for profit and not profit organizations and successfully scale programmes in rural india.
Impactree is a technology company that works at aligning the vision of Social Enterprises and enabling scale up of grass roots initiatives by working in with real time social data among last mile communities. In 2022 Impactree was one of the 8 start ups selected to attend the World Economic Forum 2022 as a part of the Tamil Nadu Government Delegation.
A Google alumna and graduate of Northwestern University, Divya Hedge is a social entrepreneur interweaving design, technology and social impact.
As a awardee of multiple UN Women Leadership Awards, Divya’s key areas of focus are: Climate Action, Gender Equality and Circular Economy
In 2022, her climate project was recognized as one of the Top 100 UNESCO Green citizens projects globally, by UNESCO.
In 2019, she started designing and developing TIP Sessions x Baeru that focus on climate action, women’s livelihoods, and circular economy with a special focus on coastal India and livelihoods. She believes in leveraging design, arts & culture, technology, regional and lingual contextualization in her climate action and communications work.
Achitra Borgohain is the founder & CEO of Binbag. He spent ten years in venture capital and infrastructure finance before founding Binbag. He graduated from Gujarat University with degrees in engineering and management. Outside of work, Achitra’s interests include road trips, music, and trekking.
Binbag makes e-waste management easier for small and medium-sized businesses. With Binbag, SMBs cut compliance time in half, automate manual tasks, and save money. This is accomplished through their vertically integrated platform that manages the entire supply chain, from sourcing to fulfilment, recycling to selling.
Anuvrat Saboo founded SafEarth to solve the challenges faced by industries in adopting solar power. Even Though it can deliver clean and cheaper power to users today, adoption is remarkably low. 90% of businesses that want solar, don’t end up buying it.
SafEarth digitizes the entire transition from conceptualization to procurement, installation and operation, generating 50% reduction in time and 100% reduction in errors. SafEarth is today India’s largest marketplace for solar adoption, saving 1,75,000 Tonnes of carbon emissions per year.
Session 6: The Wheel of Life
Talk of sustainability is incomplete without the mention of circular economy. The world’s present make-take-dispose approach to production and consumption contributed to about 50% of global CO2 emissions in 2019.
Circular Economy (CE), however, offers an alternative cycle of production and consumption that can yield economic benefits of up to $4.5 trillion by 2030.
Circular Economy is a model of production and consumption that involves sharing, leasing, reusing, repairing, refurbishing, and recycling existing materials and products for as long as possible, with the aim of extending the life cycle of products. By reducing waste to a minimum, this approach aims to address global challenges such as climate change, waste, biodiversity loss, and pollution.
A smart approach to and implementation of circular economy models can help almost every industry reduce the waste and pollution it creates. Textile, construction, agri-food, and logistics are the four main industries wherein companies have been implementing novel circular economy solutions to reduce waste, pollution, and negative social and environmental impacts.
A positive social impact–for both the consumers and the workforce–is perhaps one of the most significant aspects of the circular economy model. In addition to increasing customer satisfaction, circular economy models help businesses support the market for secondary products and materials–an act with the potential of creating new jobs in high-unemployment areas.
The Ellen Macarthur Foundation lists four key social benefits for consumers that participate in a circular economy:
- Increased disposable income through reduced cost of products and services.
- Greater utility through the additional choice or quality the circular models provide.
- Overcoming designed/premature obsolescence to reduce total ownership cost.
- Better health as the circular food system reduces our reliance on pesticides and other industrial agricultural chemicals.
The 6th online session of #StartupSeptember, The Wheel of Life, invites entrepreneurs from different industries across India who, after basing their operations on the circular economy model, have made a remarkable positive social impact. To register click here.
Panel Line-up
Dr Vidhi Vora is a Circular Economy Consultant & Educator. With a training experience of 8 years, she set up a consultancy firm called Green Phoenix Circular Solutions with an aim to help Businesses adapt Circularity in their Value chains. Having worked with the likes of Honda India Pvt Ltd, VU TVs, Havells India, HeroVired, etc the organisation also focuses on Capacity Building for a Circular Economy.
For this, The Green Phoenix Project initiative was initiated to work with academia to inculcate skills and education on Circular Design, Sustainability and Regenerative Growth in the youth.
Haneesh Katnawer is a hemp entrepreneur, community leader and startup consultant. He is also a lean six sigma expert creating innovative approach towards providing quality solutions to various industries as an Operations Consultant in the field of Lean Manufacturing, Six Sigma, QMS, ISO, 6S, Kaizen, Gemba, Process Capability, Process improvement, Production optimization techniques, Benchmarking, Production planning and control, supply chain management, venture management and many more.
Himalayan Hemp is a social-enterprise of farmers, artisans, creators and innovators coming together to preserve the indigenous variety of cannabis and hemp in the Himalayas by creating eco-conscious products like hemp sanitary pads, hemp buildings, hemp textiles, hemp raw material facilitation, startup consultancy, etc. under a cooperative model.
Bhagyashree Shastri is a Financial Analyst at Saahas Zero Waste, who after being in the tax consulting world for 5 years, eventually realized that she is passionate about working towards environmental sustainability.
Saahas Zero Waste is a socio-environmental enterprise. They believe in a circular economy where all waste is converted to resources. They leverage technology and data to provide a transparent view of the waste flow and the impact created through responsible waste management. They specialise in designing and executing customised solutions for the goal of zero waste to landfills, like channelizing plastic waste and e-waste for responsible processing and offering products made from waste such as roofing sheets, clipboards, stationary, upcycled textile products, apparel and more.
