By creating Reusable Cloth Pads, We aim to combat the disposal of sanitary waste pollution associated with disposable products.
Bharti Singh Chauhan – Founder and CEO – PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades LLP
2022 WE Empower Awardee, Asia-Pacific
Bharti Singh Chauhan is the founder and CEO of PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades LLP, a social enterprise whose mission is “to work for behavioral, social and economic transformation of girls and women by providing them community-based solutions in the areas of Education, Health & Safety and Sustainable Livelihoods.” Growing up, Chauhan fought for her education, health, and safety and took up odd jobs to support herself and her family. With hard work and determination, she completed her education and worked for various corporations. Passionate about gender equality, Chuhan founded PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades LLP to support women in their menstrual health.
Aligning with UN SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being, UN SDG 5: Gender Equality, UN SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth, PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades LLP aims to reach out to one million women through training and giving them sustainable and environment-friendly solutions to manage their periods.
Good health and well-being
A lot of Indian women use cloth, old rags, and cow dung bags as an alternative to sanitary pads for menstruation. These alternative forms of pads can have negative health implications. PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades has trained 301,384 women and girls on how to safely manage their periods. Furthermore, they have distributed 15,457 free pads to support women and girls. For every pad that the for-profit arm of PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades sells, a pad is donated to a vulnerable girl or a woman.
PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades “promote[s[ safe practices around Periods in various communities, slums, schools & Colleges in urban and rural parts of the country and also provide a sustainable environment-friendly solution to help [women and girls]manage their periods with safety and Dignity.”
Gender equality and decent work and economic growth
Empowered women can play an important role in economic development and inspiration of future female generations. PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades trains around 225 women to produce environment and budget-friendly pads that help them earn a sustainable livelihood. They also work in a safe environment and earn a fair wage with a flexible work schedule, allowing women to work on their other commitments. In addition to helping women economically, PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades partners with corporations, foundations, and NGOs to support girls’ education.
Climate change
PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades plays an important role in saving the environment from sanitary and industrial waste. India has 350 million menstruating women and girls and if we assume that “35 percent of these women use sanitary napkins regularly at an average of eight pads a month, 200 tonnes of sanitary napkin waste are generated every day that affects the climate and Humans who are involved in segregating waste.”
To promote a safe and sanitary environment, PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades developed a safe innovative solution called the Merapad Cloth Pad, a washable pad made of Bamboo charcoal. With this innovation, PraveenLata Sansthan & CarversIndia Trades 558,528 Kg of disposable sanitary and industrial waste.
We are passionate about women rights and fighting the taboo around menstruation. We support women who need work the most and receive a fair wage alongside flexible work hours which fit within their lifestyle.
The WE Empower UN SDG Challenge is a first-of-its-kind global competition for women entrepreneurs who are pushing the UN Sustainable Development Goals and leading innovation in sustainability and climate change through their businesses. This Contributing Series highlights finalists of the Challenge whose work demonstrates how business models and social entrepreneurship can drive global impact.