Kovai students’ eco-friendly sanitary pads win national award

“By nature, the fibre extracted from kenaf plant has good absorbing capacity with natural anti- microbial properties. Therefore, we can make 100 per cent bio-degradable napkins from theplant,” said S Gowtham, an alumnus of the Department of Fashion Technology in Kumaraguru College of Technology.

Made after a research of almost one year, the bio-degradable pads eliminate super absorbent polymer (SAP), a widely used harmful chemical in commercially available products.

“Medical research reveals that SAP and other chemicals used in commercial brands causes skin allergy, irritation and even lead to infertility among women. Ours provide a safe alternative,” said R Niveda, a first year in Master of Apparel Technology.

In recognition of their innovations, Gowtham and Niveda were honoured with Chhatra Vishwakarma Award instituted by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Human Resource Development and Engineering Council of India (ECI), besides the prestigious India Innovation Initiative (I3) award constituted by Confederation of Indian Industry, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India and AICTE and i3 –SIDBI Start Up Mitra awards for Promising Innovators.

“With the support of the college management, we have even raised kenaf on a small patch of land on the campus for extracting the fibre,” said Gowtham. The plant requires less water and fertilizers.

“We have applied for the patent and are planning to make the pads available in the market. The cost of a single piece has been worked out to just half the price of branded ones,” said Gowtham.

The young innovators,have also planned to reach out to rural women with their eco-friendly napkins to besides creating awareness on using them.