The Kal-ki Project

With changing times and climate, unsustainable religious practices have taken a toll on the natural resources in India. It’s quite ironic that the river most sacred to the Hindus is also the world’s most polluted river, the Ganges. 

Kal-ki, aims to aid the Indian population transition to sustainable practices using cultural & religious practices by providing alternative products and reimagined value chains. 

We aim to generate sustainable product and systems designs that are culturally well informed and acceptable to the society, as a means to gradually alter their lifestyles and at the same time generate viable sources of income for those who are affected by changing climates the worst.

India, a country with 99.1% of the total population identifying as religious - a potpourri of various religions, therefore serves as an ideal testing ground for the business model which can then be scaled up to other markets in the world.

Annually, 80% (198,726,800 households) of India’s population celebrates the festival Diwali - which leads to heavy amounts of air pollution due to firecracker burning choking the NCR of New Delhi with smog; the AQI monitors max out at 999 units. Along with the air+noise pollution, every household purchases numerous products used in rituals including at least one pair of idols. These idols are submerged annually in a holy water body. Ganges, the most sacred river provides water to about 40% of India's population across 11 states, serving an estimated population of 500 million people or more, highest in the world. A study conducted by the NCRP under the ICMR in 2012, suggested that "those living along its banks are more prone to cancer than anywhere else in the country".  

With growing demand, idol manufacturers are forced to resort to ecologically dangerous materials such as plaster of paris coated with toxic paints containing lead and mercury for larger profit margins. Other products used in these rituals have become single use plastic based and almost all of them come packaged in disposable plastic.The masses, unaware of their action’s impact on their environment continue to destroy their ecology.

Our target audience is anybody and everybody who practices a religion and participates in rituals. Although the niche market is largely urban, the rate at which India’s population is urbanising and the penetration rate of environmentally harmful religious products in rural areas, we do plan on covering both rural and urban markets with different ranges of products.

We will also be working with existing industries by establishing partnerships and ensuring we help everyone transition to sustainable methods and media by engaging with them via workshops and trainings. We do not want to disrupt the market and put millions out of their jobs. Instead we aim to create an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable ecosystem that enables those communities that missed the train of industrial revolution by ensuring they’re the first to jump on to Industry 4.0.

We have developed designs for idols made of cow-dung with seeds of plants that purify air naturally. These idols when buried into a planter can grow into plants that will be looked after due to their religious origins, thereby annually creating an urban garden of 99,363,400 air purifying plants per festival. 

Currently, we are also in talks with the heads of various religious institutions that generate tonnes of organic waste in the form of flowers and other offerings to offer them sustainable systems designs that are tailor made to their context.

Starting off with idols, incense, candles and woodfire we plan on expanding to other products and systems involved in the religious rituals.