Flowercycling idea gets UN award

Help Us Green came up with world’s first profitable solution to problem of floral waste

The Indian group Help Us Green, which gives marginalised women a chance to earn a living through collecting temple ceremonial flowers tossed into the Ganges and turning them into sustainable incense, received a UN Climate Action Award.

Fifteen game-changing initiatives in 14 countries were honoured as winners of the award at a special ceremony at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP 24) in this Polish city on Tuesday evening.

The Momentum for Change award, spearheaded by UN Climate Change, showcases some of the most practical and replicable examples of what people are doing to address climate change.

Cleaning Ganges

A UN Framework Convention on Climate Change post says Help Us Green, which is based in four cities of Uttar Pradesh and got the award in the Women for Results category, is doing its part to clean up the Ganges by recycling flowers from temples and mosques.

Over eight million tonnes of flowers are discarded in the river every year for religious purposes. This is contributing to the pollution of the Ganges, which provides drinking water for over 420 million people.

Help Us Green came up with the world’s first profitable solution to the monumental temple waste problem: flowercycling.

Women working with Help Us Green collect floral-waste daily from temples. The waste is up-cycled to produce organic fertilisers, natural incense and biodegradable packaging material.