Life & Style | Health
Nuts about coming clean
In the last of a series on organic products, Sangeetha Swaroop meets Silvios Perpmer, an entrepreneur who makes organic cleaning agents
- By Sangeetha Swaroop, Dubai-based freelancer
- Published: 23:51 January 15, 2009
In a little village, nestling at the foothills of the magnificent Himalayas in northern India, 78-year-old Janardhan remembers the time – not so long ago – when he used to eke out his living as a farmer. Here, in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh, agriculture is the mainstay of its people, providing subsistence for the larger majority of its inhabitants.
Indulging in several traditional practices in farming, and relying on water from small water channels fed from perennial or seasonal springs, Janardhan's daily routine was marked by hard labour from dawn to dusk. His frugal earnings depended on the vagaries of weather, and with a marked urban exodus by the younger generation in search of better living, the onus of farming fell on less educated farmers like him.
Pratap, another agricultural labourer, also recalls the time when he could barely make ends meet to support his large family. Rains played havoc with harvest, and indiscriminate felling of forest trees compounded the problem as water sources began to dry up.
Rama, an 80-year-old lady, too has a similar story to tell. Farming, in Himachal Pradesh, like in many Indian states, can rarely be done without the help of women who, more often than not, have to accept wages that are significantly lower compared to their male compatriots.
Though developmental activities and several social programmes initiated by the government of India have brought about marked changes in the daily lives of the people, it hasn't always trickled down to the poorest of the poor. Himachal Pradesh is a mountainous region, rich in natural resources.
Apart from traditional agriculture, its forest wealth has contributed immensely to boost its economy and many local men and women still gather and sell natural forest produce to supplement their income.
However, in the case of Janardhan, Rama, Pratap and hundreds of others like them, one particular forest produce – native to their land – was to completely transform their lives thanks to the efforts of an eco-friendly entrepreneur in faraway Austria.
Belonging to the main plant order Sapindaceae and family Sapindeae, there isn't anything ‘magical' about the soap nut tree. A deciduous tree, it grows wild in the upper reaches of northern India, flourishing in deep clayey loam soil.
It is found in abundance in the forests of Himachal Pradesh, and the residents are familiar with one of its most unique properties – the excellent cleaning capability of the fruit of the tree.
The dried fruit of the soap nut tree (Sapindus Mukorossi) is the most valuable part of the plant. Its fleshy portion contains high concentrations of saponin which acts as a natural soap when it comes into contact with water. The soap nuts are therefore, natural, organic and an environment-friendly alternative for soap, detergents and other chemicals.
It was precisely these incredible properties of the soap nut tree that first attracted Austria-born Silvios Perpmer to Himachal Pradesh in 2002. But his interest in the cleaning business began after he started working in his father's cleaning company at the age of 18.
"This was a professional cleaning company that worked with strong chemicals to do a good job," says Perpmer who was in Dubai late last year on a ‘Meet the Farmer' campaign organised by The Organic Foods & Cafe.
"But I soon began to feel that this was not the direction the company ought to be taking. I wasn't happy with the huge amounts of chemicals we were using daily as part of our cleaning services. I began to wonder about the effect these would have on the environment, and what it meant for our children's future.
How could we minimise the use of harmful chemicals and yet keep the cleaning business running? The only solution, I realised, lay in using earth-friendly products." And thus it was that environment-friendly products began to be used by the company for their cleaning services in hospitals, offices and other establishments. Yet, Perpmer wasn't happy; there was something amiss – he wanted to do more. So in 1999, he set up his own firm, Planet Pure, founded on three fundamental core values – environment, social esponsibility and sustainability.
"My idea was to work with natural ingredients or renewable raw materials wherever possible, to be mindful of a natural cycle, produce and trade ‘fairly', and generate products out of nature," he says. "The underlying philosophy of Planet Pure is to also provide social support by engaging the local people – wherever it is that we source our ingredients from – to help them in building a strong and viable future for themselves and society.
My aim and vision has been to reduce environmental impact to an absolute minimum."
Thus, when he first heard of the properties of the soap nut tree, he ventured into the Himalayan region to assess the feasibility of using the fruit of the tree to produce a range of cleaning products for domestic use. What he discovered was that these amazing nuts had a 12-14 per cent saponin content. This meant they could be used as an alternative to regular washing powder or liquid. The sun-dried nuts, with seeds removed, could be added directly to the washing cycle or could be powdered or turned into a liquid for easy use.
Entering into a tie-up with an Indian partner to collect, prepare, deseed and export the harvested soap nuts, Perpmer embarked on setting up a factory in Austria where the nuts are packaged and labelled under the brand name, Samu.
The going was not easy during the initial years, admits Perpmer. "It was a fight for survival," he says. "Even today, when you use the word ‘organic', it is food or foodstuff that you first think of. But did you know that everyday cleaning activities in the home like mopping, cleaning windows and kitchen counters, doing the laundry and dishes, etc exposes us to toxic chemicals? You also end up with chemicals on your skin from the clothes you wear that were laundered with chemical-intensive products. And ultimately, where do all these chemicals go? Into the ground water – that once again re-enters our system!"
That explains his fascination for a natural product like the soap nut. "Soap nuts are 100 per cent biodegradable and do not pollute the water or soil," he says. "It does not require any processing or chemical alteration for its end use, and once used, can be safely tossed into the compost heap. Being a natural product accounts for its sustainability and it ranks higher than those that are merely eco-friendly."
While he set about laying the foundation of the business, devising strategies for growth and diversification into new product lines, Perpmer did not lose touch with the simple philosophy that was the cornerstone of his business plan – social responsibility. By 2005, Planet Pure was working in seven out of the 12 districts in Himachal Pradesh and together with his Indian partner, D.K. Gupta of Pure India, employed hundreds of workers directly while almost 2,000 benefited indirectly from the partnership.
Perpmer's commitment to the principles of fair trade saw him fork out 45 per cent more than the minimum wages specified by the Government of India. And thus, 78-year-old Janardhan, a resident of Solan in Himachal Pradesh, rose from the ranks of earning a paltry three euros a month to about 80 euros per month merely by working at Planet Pure's cracking facilities.
Rama, formerly a destitute old woman, now enjoys a much better standard of living thanks to her higher wages. Planet Pure is thus working as a catalyst between poor farmers and buyers to provide better living to the poor and underprivileged.
But Perpmer's adherence to the principles of social responsibility did not end solely with paying an equitable wage for the job. Planet Pure has also initiated an aid project called ‘Children and Environment' in Himachal Pradesh whereby children in various schools throughout this Indian state are provided with books, clothes and certain minimum financial help to pursue quality education.
In the first phase of Project India, in 2006, 100 children benefited from the project which is currently supported
by a monthly contribution of 250 euros and is constantly being developed and extended.
Perpmer believes that when
a consumer purchases a Samu soap
nut product, he/she is contributing in more ways than one to the betterment of the people in the Himalayan region. "Here, the soap nut tree is considered more valuable owing to its use as firewood," he says. "But if the soap nuts were to find great favour amongst consumers, local residents would be encouraged to harvest them as it would mean gainful employment opportunities. Also, it would discourage indiscriminate felling of trees for firewood or other purposes."
Growing more soap nut trees would also help reduce soil erosion thereby helping to save the tropical rainforests, he says. "Currently, our employees involved in the picking of the nuts are encouraged to return the discarded seeds back to the forest to replant them so that its numbers are continually replenished, and the forest belt cover is preserved in the process."
– Sangeetha Swaroop is a Dubai-based freelancer
The eco-products in the Planet Pure range that include Samu Soap Nut, Samu Soap Nut detergent liquid and Samu White amongst others are available in the UAE at all outlets of The Organic Foods & Café.
caption: Silvios Perpmer... "My idea was to work with natural ingredients or renewable raw materials wherever possible..."
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