Pre-teen entrepreneurs: Two girls in a TN village recycle waste flowers into incense sticks

In the heart of Konamangalam, a small village in Tamil Nadu, two twelve-year-old girls from the local Panchayat Union School are turning waste flowers into incense sticks. This not only prevents waste flowers from choking the local water bodies but also provides financial support to their families.

Santhiya and Anushka saw their florist parents working hard to make ends meet. However, whatever remained unsold by evening would wilt away, leading to a financial loss. Watching their parents struggle, the children decided to find a way to repurpose the flowers and turn them into something valuable. 

"Seeing our parents struggling to collect and sell flowers and then deal with the waste motivated us to innovate. We wanted to help them,” says Santhiya. 

That opportunity came with the National Student Innovation Challenge (NSIC), an initiative by NGO eVidyaloka, supported by the LTIMindtree Foundation. The duo showcased their idea of turning discarded flowers into incense sticks.

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“Through the NSIC journey, when we were looking at solutions, we realised that unsold flowers, usually called waste, could also be seen as the raw material to make incense sticks. When we asked our parents, they said this thought never crossed their mind that wilted flowers could be recycled,” says Anushka. 

The idea

With limited resources but a strong determination, Santhiya and Anushka began analyzing their family’s earnings and losses. Their parents made between Rs 3,000 and Rs 3,500 per month, and even a small additional income could make a huge difference. 

After extensive research and mentorship, they arrived at a simple yet effective solution: to make incense sticks. 

They could dry, grind, and mould the flowers into fragrant incense, selling them alongside fresh flowers. 

With no major financial investment, they began experimenting by sun-drying the flowers, grinding them into a fine paste using a mixer grinder, and mixing it with desi ghee and rose water to enhance the aroma. The paste was shaped into incense sticks and left to dry before being packaged and distributed.

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Initially, they gave away complimentary samples to understand customer preferences. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and soon, they started selling them at a nominal price. 

Their initial monthly earnings increased from Rs 500 to Rs 1,000 and then to Rs 2,000, a significant boost to their family’s financial income. 

What started as an experiment has become a sustainable business model, reducing waste while generating income. 

Temple vendors and local villagers, who appreciated the handcrafted, eco-friendly product, became their first customers, and their daily sales began to rise.

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For their parents, this initiative was transformational. What once seemed like waste has become a steady additional source of income. With the extra money, they could save for their children’s education and manage household expenses better. Their innovation and determination earned them recognition at the NSIC competition, making their parents and community immensely proud.

Expansion

Encouraged by their success, the students are now thinking bigger. They aspire to automate the grinding process, increase production efficiency, and scale up operations by sourcing unsold flowers from neighbouring areas. While their plan is still in its early stages, their work shows that creativity, resilience, and the right opportunities can turn even the smallest ideas into meaningful change. 

(US Anu is a Madurai-based writer. She specialises in stories around human interest, environment and art and culture.)

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