Our Mission: Sustaining Craft & Earth
Born from Enactus Kirori Mal College, we connect urban households with the traditional skills of Kumhar Gram to solve waste management at the grassroots level.
We started with a problem: municipal solid waste overwhelming our landfills. This infographic explains the scale of the issue and how it inspired us to tackle waste mismanagement at the grassroots level with a useful, sustainable product.
The idea for a home composter was conceived as a direct solution to help urban households manage their biodegradable kitchen waste. This marked the inception of our journey to make composting accessible and easy for everyone.
After visiting the potter's community and understanding their challenges, we defined our role. We decided to partner with them to create our composters, providing an additional source of income and uplifting their livelihood.
This collage illustrates the key stages of our journey. It shows our team visiting the potters' workshops, collaborating on designs, inspecting the final products, and working together to bring our vision to life.
Our process began with extensive research and needs assessment. After testing many materials, we chose terracotta and visited the Potters' Colony in Delhi, where we finalized our partnership with the skilled artisans of Sonu Kumar Handicrafts.
In the prototyping and testing phase, we conducted market surveys and refined our marketing strategy. We worked closely with our artisan community to produce the first batch of vertical composters and developed an instruction manual for users.
This image celebrates a major milestone: our first pre-launch order and successful delivery. It also highlights our achievement of ranking fifth in a business plan competition, validating our efforts and marking a proud step forward.
We are proud to introduce our beneficiaries from Sonu Kumar Handicrafts in Kumhar Gram, New Delhi. This community of highly skilled artisans has been passionately practicing the art of pottery for years and are our partners in creating a sustainable tomorrow.
Our community of artisans stands proudly with the terracotta composters they create. Your purchase directly supports these individuals and their families, celebrating their craft and contributing to their economic well-being.
The Indian potter community faces significant economic struggles, despite a long and rich tradition. This infographic explains the challenges they face in making ends meet, which motivates our mission to provide them with a stable source of income.
About Our Mission & The People We Support
When you choose a JanBhoomi terracotta composter, you are choosing a product that actively sustains the artisans of Kumhar Gram. Unlike mass-produced plastic bins that eventually clog landfills, our composters are breathable, stackable, and hand-molded by potters who have been preserving their craft for decades. Every purchase directly provides these skilled hands with a stable income and a reason to keep their traditional art form alive in a modern, mechanized market.
Turning Waste into a Movement
We believe that effective waste management starts at home. Project JanBhoomi was established to address the dual challenge of land degradation and the decline of traditional artisan livelihoods. By creating high-utility products like our 'mota lota' terracotta composters, we tackle the root causes of urban waste mismanagement while providing a necessary market for the potters of Delhi's Kumhar Gram.
The Kumhar Gram Connection
Our partnership with the artisans of Kumhar Gram goes beyond simple procurement. We work alongside potters like Ghansham Bhaiya and Ganu Bhaiya, ensuring that the design of our composters meets the needs of the modern Indian household. These artisans bring years of experience to the wheel, ensuring that each stackable, unglazed pot allows for the natural aeration required for effective composting. We are not just selling a product; we are ensuring that traditional knowledge remains relevant and economically viable.
Why Terracotta?
In our research and prototyping phase, we tested multiple materials to find the most effective solution for home composting. We chose terracotta because of its porosity, which allows the microbial activity necessary for decomposition to flourish—something plastic bins cannot replicate. When you use our kit, you are utilizing a system that has been perfected through local insights and environmental testing. By choosing these organic solutions, you are taking a tangible step toward reducing your carbon footprint and supporting a local economy that is fighting to survive against cheap, mass-produced imports.
Project JanBhoomi
We are Project JanBhoomi, a student-led collective born from Enactus Kirori Mal College. We work to solve waste management issues by reviving the traditional pottery of Kumhar Gram, turning organic waste into earth-friendly compost.
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