Imagine a world where the stationery you buy saves trees and makes our cities cleaner. It prevents polluting water bodies, provides revenue for rural areas, and helps in the welfare of cows. Don’t stop! Moreover, dispose of that stationary in pots and it will act as manure blossoming in your surroundings. And this entire process makes you more sensitive to our relationship with nature. Sounds too ideal!? Not with Gaukriti.
Back in 2019, we met Mr. Bheemraj Sharma and his daughter Jagriti, the founders of Gaukriti – a revolutionary enterprise aimed at the welfare of cows by manufacturing 100% biodegradable paper-made primarily using cow dung.
Bheemraj-ji was living a life most of us would want to in our 40s. Running his own business, earning substantially well, living happily with family, a good house, and a luxurious car. Why then instead of living as it is, does he devote himself to starting Gaukriti?
During one of his visits to Dr. Niranjan Verma’s seminar in Rajasthan in 2017, Bheemraj ji was moved by the selfless work of people in Gaushala (cow ranch) and their ideology – “cows are the backbone of our nation”. He decided to do something meaningful with his life rather than just living it for himself.
He began pondering over ideas to combine his printing business expertise with environmental welfare. He said, “While traveling back from Chennai, in the flight from Guruji’s ashram, my mind was constantly rushed to find an opportunity in the printing business. I remembered a venture that manufactures paper from elephant dung. Why can’t that be done with cow dung?”
“Ye duniya sab ke liye hai. Aur sabke liye kuch karna hai.”
After this realization, his approach towards living life was changed. Spending money lavishly on building status doesn’t seem sensible to him. He now spends his resources on improving his quality of life like eating organic food and focusing on Gaukriti.
With a lot of passion, love for cows, and zero harmful chemicals. Technically, the input resources, processing, output, and disposal of stationary made at Gaukriti are in stark contrast with the traditional paper industry. Let’s see how
Design credit: Mohit Negi
This is a sort of product and process chain that leaves us like, why has nobody thought of this before? Bhimraj ji, as humble and casual he is, tells us that
“Someone has to think about the environment and has to work for it. Not everyone has the ability or capacity to do both. I am blessed by ‘Gau-mata’ to be able to work for the cause."
Today, Gaukriti has a large number of products in its portfolio. Ranging from wedding cards, envelopes, office calendars, memo diaries, pencils, Diwali pooja kits, incense sticks, and even gift boxes. The variety of items is proof of Bheemraj ji’s constant attempt to find and deliver on market demands.
Even the packaging of items is made up of the same biodegradable raw material (except for a few where using plastic is necessary). Apart from their shop in Jaipur, most of the products are available on Amazon, Flipkart, and Snapdeal.
“Today our products are demanded by people from all across the world. I've gained this traction through my personal network and media has helped us well."
Looking at enriching products of Gaukriti, the government of Rajasthan is going to mandate using folders made by Gaukriti for all official purposes. That’s a huge step for the Government, Gaukriti, and the environment.
Apart From Demand For Products, Bheemraj Ji often receives requests from big farmers, cow ranch owners, and other organizations asking him to teach Gaukriti’s method To make organic paper.
In 2019, we were lucky to learn from Bheemraj ji about Gaukriti’s process, products, his journey into sustainability and the future of this venture. We keep reading about entrepreneurs in the tech world, but the challenges for startups in sustainability, are far tougher. In part 2, read more about how Bheemraj ji tackled those challenges and what the future of Guakriti can be.
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