'Bageeya' Uses Floral Waste From Temples To Dye Organic Fabric

No visit to a place of worship is complete without the classic temple offerings, to please and propitiate the gods. It is estimated that around 800 million tonnes of flowers are offered at temples, dargahs, and in gurdwaras across the country. But the next day, when these offerings are cleaned up, they turn to waste and become a massive problem for the environment. Since flowers in temples are considered sacred, they aren't dumped in landfills. They are instead, typically, disposed of in ponds, lakes, and rivers, posing a threat to water quality and marine life.

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While industrial waste has a huge role to play in polluting our water bodies, floral waste isn't too far behind. As per research by Pradip Kumar Maity for the International Journal for Research in Applied Science and Engineering Technology, roughly eight million tonnes of floral waste is dumped into water bodies and rivers in India every year, choking and polluting them.

But some brands and individuals have now taken the responsibility of turning temple waste into gold. One of them is Jigisha Shukla from Vadodara, running a sustainable clothing brand called Bageeya. Bageeya not only promotes handwork and crafts, but also gives a purpose to floral waste in their second life as natural dyes that bring colour and texture to Bageeya's line of sustainable clothing.

Talking to NDTV about her brand, Jigisha  Shukla said,

Bageeya is a natural extension. I have been practicing sustainable living since I understood the meaning of living in sync with nature and that is how I thought of working with crafts. But, then I thought that let us create something which is entirely biodegradable and entirely in sync with nature. So, that is how Bageeya came into existence, where we work with weavers across India. We procure fabrics from weavers across India and then we do the printing with temple flowers and herbs.

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Jigisha and her team collect floral waste from nearby temples. They often get floral waste from weddings as well. The flowers go through extensive treatment before they are applied to fabrics. The process includes around 15 steps, and the fabric that will eventually be dyed is procured from weavers who work with organic cotton, tussar silk, and chanderi silk.

Elaborating on how flower waste is used to generate natural dyes which are then used to print on fabric, Jigisha said,

We work with temple flowers and herbs to create those prints. When it comes to temple flowers, we use roses and marigold, and when it comes to leaves we use guava leaves and all of those and with the herbs, we use indigo, walnut, kattha, among others. Once we have procured the fabric, we process the fabrics. There is scouring where we wash the fabrics so that the impurities of the fabrics are gone. This is followed by a mordanting process so that the fabric gets ready to take up the dye. Mordanting is usually done with aloe vera or fitkari (alum), and then we lay the fabric. We create the pattern on the fabric the way we want and then the fabric is rolled and steamed. After this, we do the post-mordanting processes, again with alum, aloe vera, and salt and that is the final product.

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Apart from being biodegradable and organic, the floral dye has other advantages too. This dye isn't just good for the environment, but also for the body, mind, and soul. Explaining the same, Jigisha said,

In Ayurvastra, a branch of clothing science, it is said that when you wear something which is naturally dyed with herbs and flowers and if the garment is organic fabric then it rejuvenates your body. It imparts therapeutic properties to your body. So, when you wear something which is chemically dyed, or made of synthetic fabric, you would often have seen that it makes you very uncomfortable. If there is a harsh sun, it will make you feel very uncomfortable. But, when it comes to natural dyes they have this innate property to make you feel warm in winters and cool in summers. So, that is the beauty of the natural dyes and that is the beauty of the khadi fabric. When it comes to natural dyeing, the extract can be used to make compost and when it comes to chemical dyeing, the leftover reduces the fertility of the soil and then that land won't be able to do farming again.

Every business comes with a challenge and the biggest challenge for Jigisha was to convince the priests at the temple to give her the floral waste. But she knew just what to do to convince them. Recalling how she convinced temples to give her floral waste, Jigisha said,

I took a couple of the garments to the different temples and then I showed them (priests) that this is how marigold looks on the fabric. This is how roses look on the fabric. So, they were quite supportive and we even created some of the outfits for the gods. From wherever I have taken temple flowers, I have created something for various gods like Ganesh Ji, Shiv Ji, and Parvati Ji. I have created some of them; that is how they learned about the entire process.

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Though eco-printing has been practiced in India for a very long time, some artisans are still very new to this concept. Training the artisans is another challenge faced by Jigisha. She said,

With eco printing, you don't get the artisans who have been practicing that artform for a generation. When we talk about Ajraks or block printing or bandhini - those tying dye, you have artisans whose generations have been into this craft. So, you can procure them or you can tell them the design and they can make it for you. But here, you have to train women in this art form. You have to explain it to them. They are the artisans. they are not laborers. So, that is a major challenge that I have been facing till now.

Bageeya is not only turning waste into a resource, but the process followed for dying a piece of cloth is also eco-friendly. The water is used to wash utensils or mop the floor before it is discarded. The chemicals in the water are within permissible limits, and hence do not pollute the groundwater. The eco-warrior said,

When we work with the flowers and herbs we are working with raw material which is a waste for some. We are collecting temple flowers. We are not buying another resource. We do the printing. Again, the handwoven or the handcrafted machine generates employment for the millions of weavers and uses less energy for its production. So, there you save on energy. Thirdly, when steaming, we ensure we have enough bundles to steam. We don't steam like six meters or 10 meters. We make sure that we have a specific quantity when it goes to the steaming and whatever is left over is there, we use it to create compost like you know it is used for fertilisers on farms.

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Sustainability comes naturally to Jigisha, she always saw her father avoid the wasteful use of resources. She believes it's the small contributions that matter. She added,

I remember, my dad is very finicky about his polythene bag. He won't discard a small amount of waste in a big polythene bag. He believes in collecting waste in a big bag and then dumping all of it together. It is a very small example. Similarly, he is very finicky about water running and being wasted. So, Bageeya is a very natural extension for me. I love crafts. So, I thought of Bageeya where I can create crafts. I can work with the weavers across India and then I can do the natural dyeing and create a completely sustainable product.

By reusing floral waste and giving opportunities to local artisans, Jigisha and her brand Bageeya are creating clothes with a conscience. While signing off, Jigisha said,

The textile industry is the second most polluting sector in the entire world. So, as citizens of the world, we need to be very careful of what we are offering to the next generation. Even if you think twice before buying another outfit, that is commendable.

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