Calendar To Plant: This Duo From Agra Is Reducing Carbon Footprint And Paper Waste By Infusing Seeds In Paper

New Delhi: Wedding cards make for one of the most memorable items of any wedding. Apart from having an emotional value, it stays with the couple lifelong. But does it stay with the invitees too? May be yes, may be no. To make their wedding card memorable and ensure guests cherish the wedding invitation, Sumat Nanda and Garmia Capoor decided to opt for eco-friendly seed paper wedding cards that can sprout into a plant after its purpose is over. But putting thought into action was not easy for the duo. Instead they ended up launching Plantables – Agra based brand that makes plantable products like calendars, wedding invitations, visiting card, bookmarks and other items.

In the year 2016, when I and Garima (co-founder) were getting married, we were looking for some interesting options for our wedding cards and it is then we stumbled upon the concept of seed paper. We started looking for people, who could make cards using seed paper, but unfortunately, only a handful of people were working on it and products were quite expensive. We tried sourcing handmade seed paper from them thinking of printing wedding cards on our own, but didn’t get through it. The last resort was to get seed paper made especially for us, recalls 29-year-old Sumat Nanda, co-founder at Plantables, while speaking to NDTV.

Plantable wedding card by the duo for one of their clients

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What started as a quest for their eco-friendly wedding card became a hunt to find a handmade paper manufacturer to make seed paper. After reaching out to dozens of handmade paper manufacturers, the duo eventually managed to convince one of them.

Explaining handmade seed paper and how is it made, Sumat says,

Handmade seed paper is a regular handmade paper with seeds infused in it during production. The reason we opted for handmade paper is they are 100 per cent eco-friendly and wood free. How? Handmade paper is made using cotton scraps which are converted into a pulp which is then laid out into sheets and dried up.

What looks like a regular calendar is actually plantable because of variety of seeds infused in it

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That is how, the couple got seed paper made from paper manufacture and designed their wedding card. After successfully making an eco-friendly wedding card for their wedding, the duo decided to make it for other people and that is how Plantables was born.

Though the seed of the idea was planted in October 2016, Plantables actually kick-started on December 20, 2018, with their first product – plantable desk calendar priced at Rs. 547. To start with, the duo introduced two variants in desk calendars – Filmmakers’ Calendar 2019 and Plantables’ Calendar 2019. From a January of ideation through a February of screenwriting to the final showdown in December, Filmmakers’ Calendar 2019 illustrates the steps involved in the process of filmmaking whereas Plantables’ Calendar depicts seasons. While the artwork and design for the former is by the team from VCreat Studios, later is done by Sakshi Keswani, a talented young artist from Allahabad.

Plantable Filmmakers’ Calendar 2019 made using seed paper

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The calendar has 12 sheets of seed paper and one sheet explaining the calendar and how to use it. Together, they come on a pinewood stand with metal clip. Each calendar has four different kinds of seeds namely marigold, mixed vegetable seeds, basil, and mixed wild flowers.

Plantable calendar on a pinewood stand with metal clip

Explaining the process of planting the calendar, Sumat says,

Once a month is over, wet the paper and tear it into half or more pieces. Put it in coco-peat or manure-rich soil and cover it with a light layer of the same. Keep it in open air, with mild sunlight. Keep this moist till seeds sprout.

Marigold plant sprouted from seed paper

Also Read: Ever Heard Of Jewellery Made From Seeds? This Duo From Nashik Gives An Eco-Friendly Spin To Accessories

Usually people start buying calendars in November and clearly Plantables was late in releasing their range of calendars, but despite this, in a period of one month, they have managed to sell around 500 calendars and are still getting orders.

Anyone willing to buy our product can place an order through our official website or reach out to us through our social media handles. We deliver across the globe. Though our site speaks about calendars, but we provide other products like wedding cards, greeting cards, tags and event invites along with simple sustainable packaging solutions like bags and boxes. We often get inquiry from corporates which we have fulfilled too, for instance, we made seed paper bag for Mercedes. Soon, we will be introducing a new range of products including valentine day’s greeting card, seed paper bags and other items so stay tuned, signs off Sumat.

Seed paper bag especially designed for Mercedes

Also Read: From Greeting Cards, Coasters To Calendars, This Man Is Reducing Paper Waste In India By Converting Them Into A Plant

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.