Using flowers to dye clothing and home furnishings

An Indian social enterprise is reusing temple flowers to create natural dyes, preventing waste and providing jobs at the same time

Spotted: Every day, across India, millions of people visit Hindu temples and leave puja offerings of fruits and flowers to the gods. Custom dictates that these offerings be returned to water, so they often end up in the sea or a nearby river, where they can cause environmental damage by choking waterways.

Adiv Pure Nature, however, is giving temple offerings a second life. The female-owned company creates organic textiles, many of which are coloured with dyes made from temple flowers. The organic waste is gathered and sorted before being dried and crushed to a powder.

The dyes are used to create patterns and textures through block dyeing, hand painting, and other traditional techniques. All the fabrics used are sourced from small weavers of both silk and cotton from craftspeople around India.

Adiv is still small, but a number of clothing and home furnishing businesses have become devoted fans. The cult Californian brand Dosa is one of these, as is seasonal food pioneer Alice Waters of Chez Panisse, and bigger brands like Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. Adiv’s main client is the fashion label Eileen Fisher.

Surprisingly, Adiv is not the only organisation repurposing temple offerings. In the archive, Springwise has previously spotted a vegan leather and charcoal-free incense made from discarded temple flowers.

Written By: Lisa Magloff