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Startup Mantra: Working towards sustainable living
Dr Lata Ghanshamnani, a social innovator, has successfully encouraged tribal and rural women to switch to menstrual cups as a sustainable alternative to sanitary pads. Through her social enterprise initiative, Rnisarg Foundation, Dr Ghanshamnani has benefited over 5,000 women and aims to reach even more in the future. The organization has also focused on other social innovation projects such as waste management and road safety. Rnisarg was selected for the National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI) 2022 for its work in tribal and rural regions.
Dr Lata Ghanshamnani, a social innovator, was taken aback by how effortlessly tribal and rural women adopted hygienic menstrual practices when advocating sustainable menstruation as part of the social enterprise initiative, Rnisarg Foundation. Coming from an urban area, Dr Ghanshamnani had misconceptions that these women would not be familiar with sanitary pads. To her surprise, almost 90 per cent of the women were using sanitary products. The issue lies in the eco-friendly disposal of these products. To address this problem, Dr Ghanshamnani engaged with these women and encouraged them to switch to menstrual cups, benefiting more than 5,000 women.
A practising ophthalmologist, Dr Ghanshamnani believes in figuring out the problems, working on sustainable solutions and impacting behaviour which will last for a lifetime.
Social innovation
Rnisarg was selected for the National Conference on Social Innovation (NCSI) 2022 organised by Pune International Centre (PIC) in Pune for its social innovation in tribal and rural regions. But this journey was not planned by its founder Dr Ghanshamnani, currently residing in Thane.
Says Dr Ghanshamnani, “Every journey starts with small steps. After exploring options in wet waste management, I decided to take a plunge and do some activities with the help of urban local bodies. I was not inclined to start any organisation or company. However, when I once met a senior official from Thane Municipal Corporation, I received feedback that the local bodies would act swiftly if any organisation took up a cause. Since the involvement of urban local bodies and citizens was of paramount importance, I had reluctantly agreed to form a not-for-profit and non-government organisation to further the cause.”
“My professional colleagues who had observed my work for a few years also joined hands. Orthopaedic expert Dr Leena Kelshikar and Yoga therapist and interior designer Veena Angadi came on board for the initiative,” stated Dr Ghanshamnani.
Initial steps
“The first project ‘Prarambh’ was undertaken for school children and for educational institutions to become a zero-waste zone. We thought of reducing waste generation or preventing it from going to landfills by educating students and in turn parents, teachers along with active participation of school management,” said Dr Ghanshamnani.
“Under the second project S-Miles, we emphasised the road safety issue and sensitised grade 6 students to raise awareness in their parents, and family about using helmets, seat belts and not using mobile phones while driving,” she said.
The third project ‘Green Pharmacy’ was launched in 2021 to solve the problem of discarded medicines from residential waste. A tonne of household medicines waste was collected from housing societies, and gated communities in Thane city. The medicines are sent for incarceration while its packaging is sent for recycling,” she said.
Adding further, she stated, “First two years the activities were conducted offline but then the Covid-19 outbreak happened and due to lockdowns, we had to stop our activities. We innovated ourselves and went totally digital. This crisis turned into an opportunity, as the physical barriers were broken and all schools could get access to our projects. We also hired three employees and our total team strength is now five.”
Sustainable menstruation
While she could fix the issue of wet and dry waste management, Dr Ghanshamnani was intrigued about the disposal of sanitary products. Being a medical professional herself, she found out that the adoption of menstrual cups would reduce sanitary waste and thereby eliminate disposal problems.
Elaborating on the Sakhi project, for which Rnisarg was selected by PIC, she said, “Sakhi initiative was launched in 2019 and through doctors, especially gynaecologists. The driving force was the healthcare workers who themselves adopted the menstrual cups and furthered the cause by becoming menstrual educators.”
“More than 5,000 women have benefited through this Sakhi initiative and the corporate social responsibility funds it has received,” said Dr Ghanshamnani.
“What surprised us was that the women in tribal belts were already using sanitary pads due to large-scale awareness but they did not know how to dispose off. They burnt or buried the sanitary pads, resulting in environmental loss. But they were also the first to adapt to menstrual cups. We decided that besides educating these women about sustainable menstruation, we would also offer them support for at least three to four months in the form of physical visits, phone calls or a chatbot-based messaging system. We started the TeleSakhi call centre to follow up on these early adopters and they received huge support. Every menstrual cup donated is accounted for and the beneficiary is extended support till the end,” Dr Ghanshamnani explained.
Mentoring at PIC
Amit Bhargava, mentor assigned for Rnisarg from the Pune International Centre (PIC) team, said, “Rnisarg was selected for NCSI 2022 and a year-long mentorship programme. Social entrepreneurs working in tribal, rural, and urban regions are selected for this programme and mentors are assigned to work with these social innovators. Under our mentorship programme, we guide the innovators on their strategy, determining price points, connects within the industry and layout goals to achieve in that year.”
“We also set up a few key result areas and ask organisations if they need any help on other aspects where PIC experts can help them,” added Bhargava.
Expected outreach
Rnisarg has now launched an online trainer course aimed at empowering citizens to participate in building liveable spaces for themselves and their communities. The course includes basic knowledge on the subject, tools, and resources to become a trainer, certification, and interaction with fellow trainers. Offered in two languages English and Hindi, citizens of any age group and background can educate themselves to become a trainer.
“Our goal is to reach 35.50 crore menstruating women, 20.25 lakh cup users and create 5120 Sakhi trainers in the next 10 years. We are interested in knowledge sharing, and capacity building and ready to collaborate with other organisations in different cities,” said Dr Ghanshamnani.
