Celebrating World Earth Day at SETU..

Earth Day is observed every year on April 22nd worldwide. Various events are held to demonstrate support for environmental protection. First celebrated in 1970, more than 193 countries are now coordinated globally by the Earth Day Network.

At SETU, we celebrated the day in association with one of our partner artisan groups engaged in hand printing & dyeing work. The group is working with SETU for the past many years and is based at Jodhpur, Rajasthan. The artisans make beautiful designs in block print & shibori on cotton & silk fabrics. SETU provides them with new designs & global marketing platform for their products.

The process of dyeing & printing requires hot water. This results in the use of high amount of fuel to heat the water. The artisans have been using gas and wood as fuel. However, these are not environmentally sustainable & are also very expensive. Further, the heat generated adversely affects the health of artisans in hot summers as the water is boiled to high temperatures for long periods. SETU suggested a solution to the issue and proposed to use solar energy to heat the water instead of non-renewable fuel. This is not only economical but also sustainable & Earth-friendly. With this, around 70 percent of the heating would be attained by solar energy & only 30% other heating means would be needed. SETU decided to sponsor the solar heaters & the final requirements were worked out. Finally, 2 large, high capacity solar water heaters were installed on the occasion of Earth Day, on 22nd April 2017. The entire cost of solar heaters has been borne by SETU.

The two solar water heaters have a capacity of 500 Litres each. These are sufficient to meet all the dyeing/printing volumes of the group. With the help of these heaters, water can be heated to the mark of 60 degree Celsius in winters and upto 70 degree Celsius in summers.

The artisans are very happy with the ecofriendly alternative that is not only economical but also favorable to their health & for the mother Earth.