India's largest urban afforestation drive​
Introducing KALPA
CO2 Count: 2465 Kg
CO2 seqested
What we do
Kalpa lights will be India's largest and most innovative urban afforestation drive. India alone has a demand of over 40 million streetlights. Kalpa is essentially a streetlight with a twist. Our product will replace the steel pole of street lights with living trees by mounting a specially designed clamp that is fitted with light onto the trunk of the tree. Kalpa’s technology provides the ease of street-lighting along with harnessing the utility of the tree. Thus, this cheaper and more effective lighting solution serves a dual purpose.
About Us
Kalpa was founded in 2019 and has been researched, developed, and driven by our passion towards achieving sustainable development.
Having been pre-incubated at the NRSCEL IIM, Bangalore, and then funded by K-DISC(government of Kerala) soon after, Kalpa has been laying its roots in the community gradually over the years.
How
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1.Transplanting Trees
Healthy and tall coconut trees (min 15 ft) & date palms are readily available and will be transplanted to the location by us.
2.Existing trees
We implement on existing trees at suitable locations. This is a cheaper alternative and improves utility of a tree
Why
1.Longer Product Life
Kalpa offers 3 times the life of the conventional streetlight pole. Most thickly populated cities are located along the coastline, where rust is an issue. In such conditions, the maximum life of an MS streetlight pole is 15 years whereas a coconut tree lives for 60-80 years.
2.Aesthetics
Being around trees is good for our mental and social wellbeing. Studies have revealed that cities with more green cover have seen lesser rates of crime. We've put enormous effort in ensuring that our product is aesthetically pleasing and visually appealing.
3.Safer Nights
The lights study found that the cities that received new lights experienced crime rates that were significantly lower and that increased levels of lighting led to a **36% reduction in "index crimes." We make ownership and maintenance of streetlights more affordable
4.Heat Action Plan
In India, it is estimated that 118 billion hours or 39% of work hours were lost in 2019 due to heat*. This was a result of the Heat island effect where urban jungles retain more heat, which puts more pressure on our energy needs. The state has put together a plan to prevent this. and Urban afforestation is one out five of the main strategies included in the plan.
Impact
Doing Great Things
1.Carbon Sinks
Palm trees are the most efficient carbon sinks in nature as they absorb carbon dioxide from the air and store it in themselves and the ground. Just one unit can offset 200Kg of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year.
2.Landslides
The roots of our trees prove very useful in preventing landslides and it has found to be most useful when sloped at angle less than 35 degrees.
3.Soil Erosion and Water Retention
Studies prove that palm trees improve the water retention capacity of the soil, which thereby helps in mitigation of floods as well as top soil erosion. Trees reduce surface water run-off 80% more than asphalt.
*Country-level social cost of carbon //doi.org/10.1038/s41558-018-0282-y
**Productive and Sustainable Coconut Farming Ecosystems as Potential Carbon “Sinks” in Climate-Change Minimization:
*** Khalifa International Award for Date Palm and Agricultural Innovation
4.Afforestation
This is one of the few methods by which we can be saved from the effects of climate change as well as mitigate the process. However, afforestation is a tedious task and is usually funded through donations and CSR initiatives, which is not economically sustainable. Our model caters to the needs of afforestation while also being economically sustainable.
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Contact Us
Twinkle Plaza, Panavila, Thycaud,
Thiruvananthapuram,
Kerala 695034, India
7736474996