Wondergreener Inc.

Little green straws trigger a big green cycle.

Little green straws trigger a big green cycle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6WLqKQg7Z8

The plastic usage influences our whole world dramatically. Everyone is affected and affecting others as well. What if we can produce something good to the earth with very low transition cost? What if, we can enjoy the convenience of disposal straws with relatively low price, and still help to reduce the plastic consumption even though who don't really care about the environment? The Lepironia straws grown, produced and provided in Taiwan by Wondergreener company is this solution! The straws made by us are totally green and healthy. Besides, the lepironia straws' disposal effects on our earth are just the same as a leaf can be. The little straws trigger a big sustainable cycle, and which is just our design concept. Once we achieve a quantity of usage with more branded beverage partners in the markets, we are confident to create a great green cycle with innovative social value.

The plastic usage influences our whole world dramatically. Everyone is affected and affecting others as well. What if we can produce something good to the earth with very low transition cost? What if, we can enjoy the convenience of disposal straws with relatively low price, and still help to reduce the plastic consumption even though who don't really care about the environment? The Lepironia straws grown, produced and provided in Taiwan by Wondergreener company is this solution! The straws made by us are totally green and healthy. Besides, the lepironia straws' disposal effects on our earth are just the same as a leaf can be. The little straws trigger a big sustainable cycle, and which is just our design concept. Once we achieve a quantity of usage with more branded beverage partners in the markets, we are confident to create a great green cycle with innovative social value.

Introduction:
“Wonder Greener” is a socially innovative startup aggressively working on plastic reduction. Additionally, we are the only one social enterprise addressing this issue with thorough natural Lepironia straws in Taiwan. From 2018 on, we have been trying so hard in farms around Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and optimizing the manufacturing process. We are also trying to build up a new provide-demand structure to create the sustainable value cycle by “environmental solutions”, “local revitalization” and “daily-life consumption” with botanic straws.
We are growing lepironia, and simply turning which into commercial disposable straws, in order to substitute plastic ones. With the acceptable transfer cost, convenience of usage, and multiple environmental benefits, we are literally initiating a revolution of dismissing plastic straws. Practically, the more disposable straws we use, the more benevolence we contribute to the earth, and the more economical value returned to local farmers. Our team consists of serial entrepreneurs, experienced business managers, bio and environmental experts. We are all experienced in relative domains; therefore we confidently devote ourselves to these whole green solutions to social problems.
In Oct. 2020, we build up this social enterprise in the belief that “little straws trigger a sustainable value cycle.” Although we are so young, we already have several potential clients and partners currently in Taiwan. Besides, we have been collaborating with local agents in London and Canada to provide our straws there. We are convinced to make the value of benevolent green business with social impact globally.

Innovativeness:
We have a novel social innovation model by comprehensibly technologic means. From farm to mouth, we have the lepironia not specially or chemically processed. On the contrary, it is really natural and organic. In more detail, technically we cooperate with local farmers to grow and harvest lepironia. Because of the nature of lepironia, it is completely not necessary to use pesticides in farms in any period. The plants have strong vitality biologically and naturally, so that we don’t have to interfere their growth too much. But, especially, we have an agricultural knowhow about fertilizing periods and procedures, to enlarge the aperture diameter for enhancing the utility. Afterwards, we reap and wash them in a sanitary process, and cut them into various commercially suitable sizes. After the final cleaning and UV sterilization, we send them to test the quality and safety according to official regulatory requests. Finishing all the process, we make package for delivery. That’s almost all technical parts of our production.
Is it too simple? Well, it is. But it is not the innovative contextualization. Actually, we believe a successful social innovation relies not only on technic improvement, but sometimes more on business model co-created and maintained by stakeholders. So our key innovational contextualization lies on 3 aspects, which are A, B and C.
1. A: Application for Whole Green
We innovate a new vision of lepironia application in Taiwan. It is the first whole green straw product here. Among all the substitutes of plastic straws for now, our lepironia straws are the only solution with total green to nature. In the other words, even the straws are dropped onto the ground, its environmental effects are just the same as a leaf. It contains no any additional chemical material at all.
2. B: Balance of Consumer Insights
Convenient use, economic price, and environmental benefits are all important for a straw product. It is evolutionally coming to our daily life, so to emphasize the guilty or moral feelings that we should inconveniently reuse straws or pay for much expensive substitutes, or have tolerance of uncomfortable experience might not be persuasive enough. If so, we are just pushing consumers away and lose the opportunity to enlarge the impact. The lepironia straws create a balance of those 3 advantages and make them totally compatible. This could be the only competent product for now.
3. C: Cycle of Sustainable Value
We reframe the meanings of using straws. This can be our innovative value. We think a social innovation addressing to a social problem is accountable for the practical functions of benefitting or enhancing our society, instead of how fancy or modern it is. So, back to the local society, we are simple but deep. We commercialize the core value grown and produced by contracted farmers who were inactive to agricultural works for long because of low revenue. We help them to restart their lands for the lepironia, and make it marketable used as straws, and economically accepted by beverage brands, restaurants and some individuals. With those business partners, we generate stable and periodic money, and return it to local society. The abandoned farms are becoming well renewed; the idle agricultural productivity is also recovering. And the people who using the straws are unconsciously turned to be the environmental protectors. The more we use, the more farms we need, and the more value we can pump into this cycle. Eventually, the plastic straws will be dismissed. It is our framing strategy to nudge the behavior of consumers invisibly. We do hope to make it a norm when enjoying beverages.

Social Connections:
We have multiple producers from different disciplines in our value cycle. In Wonder Greener, our members’ backgrounds are diversified. We have experienced crossover a lot. So even the stakeholders are coming from different background, we can actually make a good synergy. To combine agriculture with sustainable business in social innovation takes various but compatible resources in the ecosystem.
Wonder Greener is framing a cooperation system, and also involved in buying, providing and using lepironia straws. We contract with farmers and catering enterprises on the quantity of straws; this is the basic relationship. And we are encouraged and awarded by the governments, and supported by local people. Besides, the users are positive in using experience and giving us many constructive feedbacks. We also prove the endangered animals can be back if we grow the lepironia without harmful chemical interference. The academic institutions are interested in our projects so that we can make progress gradually as we collaborate with them. Even other substitute straw providers are also discussing with us on reducing plastic straws together.
Hence, we have to work with agricultural experts, quality management staff, business owners, commercial and botanic IP managers, academic researchers and consumers. Ostensibly we are selling straws, but intrinsically we are initiating and managing a social revolution with highly diversified partners.


The Farmers: The farmers we cooperate with are involved as a core role in the system, initialing the revolution of straws. In the past, they had no motives to grow crops because their lands were legally limited in agricultural use. But the lepironia is free to it. And it is easier to manage lepironia in the field than to manage rice. So it has many advantages and more profits. However, it still takes time and efforts to trust each other for partnership. In this ecosystem, the farmers are so indispensible. We collaborate with them to grow straws, instead of manufacturing straws. It is also the core point that “the more disposable straws we use, the more benefits to the earth we can make.”
The Governments (Yilan, Taichung & Kaohsiung): Mostly, the government in Taiwan would like to cooperate with novel and local-oriented solutions. They provide political resources and administrative advices. Hence, we get a lot of supports from policy makers and local administrative program. We care about local issues, especially on idle productivity reconstruction. We learn a lot from governmental side. That is why we need to get company with them, to directly have a deeper view on social demands.
The Catering Enterprises or Brands: The other one of most important roles in the system is catering business. Though there are many individuals accepting and buying to use the lepironia straws, the use and influence of catering brands are truly tremendous. In Taiwan, there are 3 to 4 billions of plastic straws used in catering industry. Besides, for them, we believe it is a great opportunity to be the first one to claim, “How much area of straws we use per year” or “How much area of straws with social benefits we are promoting”. We know they are the most powerful role to pivot the traditional inertia of using straws in this revolution. They are critical at influencing normal people, who are just their customers too.
The Users: Eventually, the advantages to market and the earth would be coming true only when we really use it in our daily life. So the users or consumers are a big role to make this a trend. And more importantly, they can protect the environment by simply using convenient lepironia straws. Gradually we hope they can realize how great they are when they enjoy their food with totally natural straws.
The Local Folks (Yilan, Taichung & Kaohsiung): Local people, not only farmers, are influenced too. Because of the agricultural works, we need also storage and many relative activities. We also plan to generate educational programs in our farms with children and their family. Although the educational effects are still little, but we believe it will accumulates for long and lead to many spillovers everywhere. For now, we have experienced many positive supports in Yilan, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
The Academic Institutions (NYMU Life science department & Chaoyang University of Technology): We cooperate with universities in quality control, botanic biology and environmental studies. Those who are professional at researching can analyze and archive all critical data. This is also the value of lepironia to create knowledge.
The Other Substitutable Straws Providers: Of course there are still other approaches to substitute plastic straws. Most of them are generally used in catering and beverage industry. Some of them are even currently dominate the market, such as PLA. We have close connection with them. We don’t take them as competitors, but cooperators. In this co-opetition world, we are even thinking about integration with them for more possibility of novel botanic usage.

Sustainability:
We are aiming to many goals of the SDGs. Practically the sustainability is well implemented in our value cycle. The farmers grow lepironia for Wonder Greener, and we make them become commercial straws, and then the value are accepted by catering and beverage business; continuously, they provide their food or services with the straws, instead of plastic ones. The whole production journey is almost green. We have no any additional cost of environment. And in the long run, we reduce the plastic products and carbon level. We can apparently find the environmental value is going from farm to market, and to every user’s hands, finally back to the earth. The economic value is oppositely and comparably going from users to catering business industry, and then returning to the local side, which is empowered for more productivity. That is the cycle with economical and environmental sustainability. And the social structure is also changing gradually to the positive because the labor and productivity are no longer idle, moreover, increasing young agricultural labor back to their hometown. It is a social effects and local governance on sustainability. For the business owners, they can truly reduce plastic usage, as they want more CSR-oriented operation. To run this business with social benefits, Wonder Greener had prepared for 2 years before we officially launched last year. Our team includes serial entrepreneurs, experienced business managers, quality management experts and bio/agricultural experts. We also have HR and financial members in operation, investment and accounting. Our dream is for real!

Introduction:
“Wonder Greener” is a socially innovative startup aggressively working on plastic reduction. Additionally, we are the only one social enterprise addressing this issue with thorough natural Lepironia straws in Taiwan. From 2018 on, we have been trying so hard in farms around Taiwan and Southeast Asia, and optimizing the manufacturing process. We are also trying to build up a new provide-demand structure to create the sustainable value cycle by “environmental solutions”, “local revitalization” and “daily-life consumption” with botanic straws.
We are growing lepironia, and simply turning which into commercial disposable straws, in order to substitute plastic ones. With the acceptable transfer cost, convenience of usage, and multiple environmental benefits, we are literally initiating a revolution of dismissing plastic straws. Practically, the more disposable straws we use, the more benevolence we contribute to the earth, and the more economical value returned to local farmers. Our team consists of serial entrepreneurs, experienced business managers, bio and environmental experts. We are all experienced in relative domains; therefore we confidently devote ourselves to these whole green solutions to social problems.
In Oct. 2020, we build up this social enterprise in the belief that “little straws trigger a sustainable value cycle.” Although we are so young, we already have several potential clients and partners currently in Taiwan. Besides, we have been collaborating with local agents in London and Canada to provide our straws there. We are convinced to make the value of benevolent green business with social impact globally.

Innovativeness:
We have a novel social innovation model by comprehensibly technologic means. From farm to mouth, we have the lepironia not specially or chemically processed. On the contrary, it is really natural and organic. In more detail, technically we cooperate with local farmers to grow and harvest lepironia. Because of the nature of lepironia, it is completely not necessary to use pesticides in farms in any period. The plants have strong vitality biologically and naturally, so that we don’t have to interfere their growth too much. But, especially, we have an agricultural knowhow about fertilizing periods and procedures, to enlarge the aperture diameter for enhancing the utility. Afterwards, we reap and wash them in a sanitary process, and cut them into various commercially suitable sizes. After the final cleaning and UV sterilization, we send them to test the quality and safety according to official regulatory requests. Finishing all the process, we make package for delivery. That’s almost all technical parts of our production.
Is it too simple? Well, it is. But it is not the innovative contextualization. Actually, we believe a successful social innovation relies not only on technic improvement, but sometimes more on business model co-created and maintained by stakeholders. So our key innovational contextualization lies on 3 aspects, which are A, B and C.
1. A: Application for Whole Green
We innovate a new vision of lepironia application in Taiwan. It is the first whole green straw product here. Among all the substitutes of plastic straws for now, our lepironia straws are the only solution with total green to nature. In the other words, even the straws are dropped onto the ground, its environmental effects are just the same as a leaf. It contains no any additional chemical material at all.
2. B: Balance of Consumer Insights
Convenient use, economic price, and environmental benefits are all important for a straw product. It is evolutionally coming to our daily life, so to emphasize the guilty or moral feelings that we should inconveniently reuse straws or pay for much expensive substitutes, or have tolerance of uncomfortable experience might not be persuasive enough. If so, we are just pushing consumers away and lose the opportunity to enlarge the impact. The lepironia straws create a balance of those 3 advantages and make them totally compatible. This could be the only competent product for now.
3. C: Cycle of Sustainable Value
We reframe the meanings of using straws. This can be our innovative value. We think a social innovation addressing to a social problem is accountable for the practical functions of benefitting or enhancing our society, instead of how fancy or modern it is. So, back to the local society, we are simple but deep. We commercialize the core value grown and produced by contracted farmers who were inactive to agricultural works for long because of low revenue. We help them to restart their lands for the lepironia, and make it marketable used as straws, and economically accepted by beverage brands, restaurants and some individuals. With those business partners, we generate stable and periodic money, and return it to local society. The abandoned farms are becoming well renewed; the idle agricultural productivity is also recovering. And the people who using the straws are unconsciously turned to be the environmental protectors. The more we use, the more farms we need, and the more value we can pump into this cycle. Eventually, the plastic straws will be dismissed. It is our framing strategy to nudge the behavior of consumers invisibly. We do hope to make it a norm when enjoying beverages.

Social Connections:
We have multiple producers from different disciplines in our value cycle. In Wonder Greener, our members’ backgrounds are diversified. We have experienced crossover a lot. So even the stakeholders are coming from different background, we can actually make a good synergy. To combine agriculture with sustainable business in social innovation takes various but compatible resources in the ecosystem.
Wonder Greener is framing a cooperation system, and also involved in buying, providing and using lepironia straws. We contract with farmers and catering enterprises on the quantity of straws; this is the basic relationship. And we are encouraged and awarded by the governments, and supported by local people. Besides, the users are positive in using experience and giving us many constructive feedbacks. We also prove the endangered animals can be back if we grow the lepironia without harmful chemical interference. The academic institutions are interested in our projects so that we can make progress gradually as we collaborate with them. Even other substitute straw providers are also discussing with us on reducing plastic straws together.
Hence, we have to work with agricultural experts, quality management staff, business owners, commercial and botanic IP managers, academic researchers and consumers. Ostensibly we are selling straws, but intrinsically we are initiating and managing a social revolution with highly diversified partners.


The Farmers: The farmers we cooperate with are involved as a core role in the system, initialing the revolution of straws. In the past, they had no motives to grow crops because their lands were legally limited in agricultural use. But the lepironia is free to it. And it is easier to manage lepironia in the field than to manage rice. So it has many advantages and more profits. However, it still takes time and efforts to trust each other for partnership. In this ecosystem, the farmers are so indispensible. We collaborate with them to grow straws, instead of manufacturing straws. It is also the core point that “the more disposable straws we use, the more benefits to the earth we can make.”
The Governments (Yilan, Taichung & Kaohsiung): Mostly, the government in Taiwan would like to cooperate with novel and local-oriented solutions. They provide political resources and administrative advices. Hence, we get a lot of supports from policy makers and local administrative program. We care about local issues, especially on idle productivity reconstruction. We learn a lot from governmental side. That is why we need to get company with them, to directly have a deeper view on social demands.
The Catering Enterprises or Brands: The other one of most important roles in the system is catering business. Though there are many individuals accepting and buying to use the lepironia straws, the use and influence of catering brands are truly tremendous. In Taiwan, there are 3 to 4 billions of plastic straws used in catering industry. Besides, for them, we believe it is a great opportunity to be the first one to claim, “How much area of straws we use per year” or “How much area of straws with social benefits we are promoting”. We know they are the most powerful role to pivot the traditional inertia of using straws in this revolution. They are critical at influencing normal people, who are just their customers too.
The Users: Eventually, the advantages to market and the earth would be coming true only when we really use it in our daily life. So the users or consumers are a big role to make this a trend. And more importantly, they can protect the environment by simply using convenient lepironia straws. Gradually we hope they can realize how great they are when they enjoy their food with totally natural straws.
The Local Folks (Yilan, Taichung & Kaohsiung): Local people, not only farmers, are influenced too. Because of the agricultural works, we need also storage and many relative activities. We also plan to generate educational programs in our farms with children and their family. Although the educational effects are still little, but we believe it will accumulates for long and lead to many spillovers everywhere. For now, we have experienced many positive supports in Yilan, Taichung and Kaohsiung.
The Academic Institutions (NYMU Life science department & Chaoyang University of Technology): We cooperate with universities in quality control, botanic biology and environmental studies. Those who are professional at researching can analyze and archive all critical data. This is also the value of lepironia to create knowledge.
The Other Substitutable Straws Providers: Of course there are still other approaches to substitute plastic straws. Most of them are generally used in catering and beverage industry. Some of them are even currently dominate the market, such as PLA. We have close connection with them. We don’t take them as competitors, but cooperators. In this co-opetition world, we are even thinking about integration with them for more possibility of novel botanic usage.

Sustainability:
We are aiming to many goals of the SDGs. Practically the sustainability is well implemented in our value cycle. The farmers grow lepironia for Wonder Greener, and we make them become commercial straws, and then the value are accepted by catering and beverage business; continuously, they provide their food or services with the straws, instead of plastic ones. The whole production journey is almost green. We have no any additional cost of environment. And in the long run, we reduce the plastic products and carbon level. We can apparently find the environmental value is going from farm to market, and to every user’s hands, finally back to the earth. The economic value is oppositely and comparably going from users to catering business industry, and then returning to the local side, which is empowered for more productivity. That is the cycle with economical and environmental sustainability. And the social structure is also changing gradually to the positive because the labor and productivity are no longer idle, moreover, increasing young agricultural labor back to their hometown. It is a social effects and local governance on sustainability. For the business owners, they can truly reduce plastic usage, as they want more CSR-oriented operation. To run this business with social benefits, Wonder Greener had prepared for 2 years before we officially launched last year. Our team includes serial entrepreneurs, experienced business managers, quality management experts and bio/agricultural experts. We also have HR and financial members in operation, investment and accounting. Our dream is for real!

https://www.wondergreener.com/