Maids cheer LSR girls' cleaning kit

NEW DELHI: With maids already giving their product a thumbs-up, a batch of students at Lady Shri Ram College is now trying to expand their "cleaning liquid project". Through it, members of LSR's chapter of international organization, Enactus, are hoping to help the "homeless, disabled, blind and other under-privileged" make a living through manufacturing dishwashing detergent.Though they started working on the 'cleaning liquid project' in September, its relevance has grown with the launch of the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in October.
The students are confident about their product-researched and developed by Enactus-LSR's R&D team-because "the maids like it", and theirs is the last word. A pilot study was launched in September and they gave free bottles to staff-members to pass on to the domestic help
. A couple of days in, says Jahnavi Taneja, president, Enactus-LSR, "It developed a pungent smell as we hadn't added any preservative. But we have fixed that and my maid is happy." Now that the final verdict is in, they are in the market for partners who can help them scale-up.
Plastic retailers had been willing to sell them bottles at Rs 2.50 a piece but the group would rather use recycled bottles than add to the burden on the environment. But the cost of recycling has not yet been factored into the cost of manufacturing-about Rs 20 per litre. They can either take permission from soft-drink manufacturers to use the same bottles to package soap or team up with an organization that already recycles. The team is exploring both.
"We have written to the companies to give us used bottles cheap for recycling as part of their CSR (corporate social responsibility) or give us rights to use their bottles in the same form," says Taneja. They have approached an NGO that works with the underprivileged-mostly waste collectors-and recycles. "If they agree to join us, we will be able to eliminate a step. The waste collectors can recycle the bottles and also produce liquid soap. And they'll earn from both," she adds. The college team will provide raw materials for the first batch-these can be procured at Tilak Nagar-but subsequent batches will be purchased with the sales proceeds.
The students are holding an internal competition for the name but the bottle, should they manage to find a recycler, has already been designed. Their marketing strategy is also in place and involves more than their own maids. They have contacted retailers around the college-in Amar Colony, Lajpat Nagar, Kailash Colony, Greater Kailash and Sant Nagar-who've agreed to put the detergent on their shelves. They will also give away free samples for a start and hopefully locals will like it enough to come back for more. "We will be giving away the first lot for their customers to try out. The detergent is organic and non-harmful," says Taneja, adding that a bottle is likely to last three to four months.