The humble coconut is one of Nature’s biggest wonders.
It has now found a new use – as a pot to grow plants in the used tender coconut shell. The shell is even getting painted to make it look attractive. That’s what Manish Advani discovered when his wife Gauri asked him to add coconut shell along with other waste for composting. It stuck him that since coconut shells were hard to compost why not fill the whole shell with manure and grow a plant instead?
He shared this brainwave with his boss at Mahindra SSG. His boss’s positive response helped Manish put on his marketing hat. Today it is one of the most innovative and effective client and community engagement strategies. It is encouraging students to grow plants in coconut shells and paint them colourfully thereby spread the larger idea of sustainability creatively at the school level. Manish is thinking big – he has roped in Jason Lewis, first man to circumnavigate the Planet Earth, to be the ambassador to promote this concept worldwide.
Excerpts from Sustainability Next’s chat with Manish Advani, head, marketing and PR, Mahindra SSG, a Mumbai-headquartered corporate security risk consulting firm.
Tell us about how the idea hit you
This story is from the November 2016 edition of Sustainability Next.
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This story is from the November 2016 edition of Sustainability Next.
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