Eco-friendly straws made from grass that can replace plastic straws in India

Nature already has solutions that exist long before plastic was even invented. A data scientist from Andhra came across an eco-friendly natural solution to plastic and paper straws. It’s a type of grass that can be grown in India. The grass has a naturally hollow stem making it perfectly suited as a straw without extensive processing. The grass has to be cut, cleaned and can also be dried to increase the shelf-life. Ajay spent 6 months travelling across South India to find this grass. His journey reveals the overlooked potential of wetland ecosystems. This represents more than a straw solution; it’s a blueprint for biomimicry entrepreneurship.This shows rural wetlands can be made into sustainable manufacturing hubs. Each acre could yield thousands of straws annually, creating livelihoods while preserving ecosystems. The challenge isn’t just scaling production through automation, but shifting consumer mindsets from seeking synthetic solutions to embracing nature’s ready-made designs. His findings show how traditional farming wisdom can merge with modern innovation, potentially revolutionizing how we approach single-use products across industries.