Dr Shivdarshan Malik, a lecturer-turned-entrepreneur from Haryana, believes in the power of green energy. He believes, in order to sustain, one needs to reduce the carbon footprint. This ideology led him to his famous eco-friendly innovations – ‘Vedic Plaster’ and ‘Gocrete Bricks’. These two products, made of cow dung, soil and other natural materials, can replace concrete mixture. According to the 53-year-old professor, concrete is one of the major contributors to carbon footprint and subsequently climate change.
It was his own lifestyle that motivated Dr Shivdarshan to change. He says he was aware of the carbon emission he had been causing through his car and multi-storied concrete house. Although he figured out ways to balance his side, that was not enough for him; he wanted to do it on a large scale. In 1997, he quit his teaching job to pursue his dream. He joined as a consultant with IIT-Delhi, World Bank, and United Nations Development Programme.
The idea of ‘Vedic Plaster’ struck him while he was working on a project in 2005. The project was about generating clean energy from agricultural waste and dry cow dung. Dr Shivdarshan says, the villagers had long back given up the tradition of plastering their homes with cow dung. “But, cow dung cools down home during summer and works as insulation during winter,” he adds.
In 2006, he developed ‘Vedic Plaster’ using cow dung, soil, clay, neem leaves, gypsum, cluster beans, limestones and other eco-friendly products. This can replace the conventional layer used in concrete structures for smooth walls. As Vedic Plaster does not absorb heat, the room would remain cool. Not just on new homes, but the plaster can also be applied to existing homes. All one needs to do is scrape off the existing plaster and apply Vedic plaster. Dr Shivdarshan claims 20,000 homes across the nation have used this. His workshop in Bikaner makes 5 tons of Vedic Plaster a year, fetching an annual income of Rs 10 lakhs. He associates with 15 dealers across India.
In 2018, he travelled to the United States for a lecture on cow dung management where he chanced upon houses made of wooden boards and hempcrete. This inspired him to make Gocrete made using cow dung and other locally-sourced natural materials. He claims the bricks can prevent 70 per cent of the heat from entering homes. Since he uses locally-sourced materials, the raw materials for Gocrete differ from region to region. “It is because each place has a unique weather condition.” He advises people to make bricks near their sites. For that, he organises a six-month course, too. And, he hopes that more people will embrace this mode to battle climate change.
