Sustaining the World One Dry Leaf at a Time!

Sunbird Straws is an example of sustainability in its simplicity. An India-based startup founded by a university professor, run by a student team and employing rural women, produces the world’s first premium multi-layered drinking straws made from naturally dried coconut leaves. Dr Saji Varghese was walking by the trees in the lush green Christ University Campus on a fine morning in October 2017. The eureka moment came when he noticed a coconut leaf that had fallen on the ground. “I chanced upon a fallen coconut leaf on the campus with one of its leaves pointing upwards, curled like a drinking straw. It was this sight which gave me the insight of converting it into a straw,” he says. That was the genesis of Sunbird Straws. He took a few coconut leaves and soaked them in water. Upon further analysis, he discovered that the leaves could ...