Help us Green spreads the Scent down the Ganges

The startup, founded in May 2015 by Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi, recently received appreciation from UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and two acres of land in Varanasi.

Kanpur-based startup Help Us Green, which converts flower waste collected from temples and mosques into patented organic manure and scent sticks, plans to cover more cities along the Ganges to do its bit to reduce river pollution.

The startup, founded in May 2015 by Ankit Agarwal and Karan Rastogi, recently received appreciation from UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and two acres of land in Varanasi to set up a collection and processing center.

It plans to expand to other cities such as Allahabad and Kannauj in the next few months while its long-term plan is to cover cities such as Haridwar, Patna, and Kolkata and set up special care units along Ganga. The company provides livelihood to 1,200 rural families that are engaged in the collection of flower waste from 19 temples and four mosques in Kanpur, and processing it into organic fertilizer ‘Mitti’ and scent sticks. The company converts 1,500 kg of flower waste into organic fertilizer and scent sticks.

“On a daily basis 2,500 kg flower waste flows into the Ganges from temples and mosques in Kanpur,” said Karan Rastogi, co-founder of Help Us Green, adding that it has recycled nearly 2,35,000 kg of the waste flower till date. “Now temple authorities call us to be part of HUG,” he said.

Recently, the company ran a pilot project in Vijaywada at the suggestion of Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu for the Krishna Pushkaram Festival that concluded this week.