BANJANAN

Banjanan and Silaiwali, a social enterprise in Delhi, India, have partnered to create these exclusive dolls made from upcycled Banjanan print fabric. Each doll is hand-stitched by Afghan women refugees and supports sustainable incomes and community.

Sustainability is a founding principle of Banjanan. The inspiration came after experiencing the high contamination in India, which has seen some of the worst pollutions experienced globally. The founders wanted to have a positive impact after they saw every day the high pollution level right outside their window in Jaipur.

Today, they continue to research and improve every aspect of their supply chain and behavior to make a positive impact and reduce waste, carbon footprint, and pollution. This is ongoing.

Banjanan uses GOTS certified organic cotton voile. Whilst this fabric is more expensive, Banjanan has absorbed much of this cost by taking zero profit margin on the fabric price increase. Sometimes doing the right thing has a small cost and we must all be prepared to shoulder it - both as a business and a customer.

Furthermore, Banjanan has replaced regular viscose with EcoVero, eco-responsible viscose.

They continue their mission to have zero waste in fabric and garment production through close inventory control and repurposing and upcycling leftover fabric into new seasons, special projects, and donations.

Other sustainable practices from Banjanan include:

• They use AZO-free printing inks.

• Water stewardship. An Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) has been installed at their print facility. This recycles and treats water used for dyeing and printing back into the water supply to be safe for agricultural and human use.

• They use Indian cotton and produce locally, reducing the need for raw materials to be shipped across the world.

• Their printed fabric and embroidery are artisan-made, employing local artisans and supporting traditional, age-old techniques

• They have full visibility to their factories, which are small and family/ independently run by locals.

• They ship from their factory using BDP® packaging. This is an organic biodegradation-enhancing ingredient that is added to plastic during manufacturing, and enhances the biodegradation of plastics in oceans, under the soil, in landfills, in anaerobic compost, and in digesters.

• They use recycled hangers for all shipments that require them.

• They carbon offset all their UPS shipments to e-commerce customers.