Plant this used mask and watch Tulsi herbs sprout

Plantible masks

To arrest the dangerous dumping of hazardous used masks, a Bengaluru-based green startup has come up with a unique idea: Handmade seed masks that grow into herbs when planted after use. Embedded with Tulsi and Basil seeds, these masks could completely bypass the waste route.

Conceptualised and produced by Seed Paper India, the masks are made from handmade paper, a recycled product that uses cotton waste cloth from garment factories. "The side cuttings are turned into pulp and handmade paper before the seeds are embedded," explains Roshan Ray, the startup founder. The mask is stitched with coarse hand-woven Khadi thread made from jute.

Here’s how the masks turn into seedlings: After use, they are to be buried in a large pot with good-quality, fertile soil.

"The mask could be used for up to 15 days. It could then be torn and planted, watered regularly. The plant will sprout after 4-6 weeks,” says Ray. “There is no chemical or colour added to the mask."

A factory in Bommasandra has already activated a workforce of 20 to produce about a thousand plantable masks a day. "We have so far received 5,000 orders. Enquiries are pouring in from all over India and abroad, including the Netherlands, Mexico, Spain and Greece,” Ray informs.

Once production is scaled up, the delivery would be much faster. Currently, Seed Paper India is ready to reach the finished handmade mask to buyers in five to seven days once orders are received through its portal (www.seedpaperindia.com).

Environmentalists feel that if available in big numbers, the plantable masks could be a good alternative to the regular ones, many of which are dumped in trash cans, waterbodies and other open spaces.

Besides masks, Seed Paper India is also into plantable calendars, diaries, notes and more. The ink used for the prints, says Roshan, is fully biodegradable.

Having volunteered as a Covid warrior for five months, Ray had been looking for an innovative way to solve the mask problem. In November, 2020, he launched 'Plantable Seed Bombs' to celebrate Deepavali without fire, smoke and noise. The Hydrogen bombs, for instance, were embedded with marigold flower plant seeds.