Evlogia’s coconut leaf straws | Fusion - WeRIndia

Due to increasing conscience of customers, many restaurants are trying to use plastic-alternative products like metal, paper, bamboo etc. to the possible extent.

Several companies also emerge into the market, making sustainable products. Evlogia Eco Care is one such startup that makes eco-friendly straws using dried coconut leaves.

Manigandan Kumarappan is the founder of Evlogia Eco Care. Coconut tree has many uses. Different parts of the tree serve various purposes.

Many farms use midrib of the coconut leaves for making brooms and discard leaves as agricultural waste. Evlogia uses these discarded leaves to make straws after cleaning them thoroughly.

It procures dried coconut leaves from different farms in Tamil Nadu. Women are employed at each farm to collect leaves, wash them thoroughly under running water and dry them for a few days.

Thus procured leaves will undergo deep cleaning through pressure heating method. After that, leaves will become so soft to roll them into straws easily.

These straws can work with both hot and cold beverages. While they can last for half an hour in hot beverages, they can be used for up to six hours in cold beverages.

Evlogia has a team of 15 women to roll the leaves into straws. The standard size of a coconut leaf straw is 8.25 inches. However, they are customized as per the requirement of the customers ranging from 4 inches to 12 inches. The price depends on the size ranging from ₹1.5 to ₹3.

Evlogia empowers women as everything from preparing the raw material to packaging the final product, is done by women.

Before launching Evlogia, Manigandan started Tenco, an e-commerce platform to sell half-trimmed coconuts. The company was serving these coconuts along with a plastic straw. But, on the request of customers for a sustainable alternative, the company brought dried coconut leaf straws into the market.

Image Credit: Evlogiaeco

Image Reference: http://www.evlogiaeco.com/