Pure Scents, Green Wrap: Artisanal Incense in Minimalist Reed Tube

Pure Scents, Green Wrap: Artisanal Incense in Minimalist Reed Tube|「純淨線香/環保包裝：蘆葦極簡管 x 手作線香」

https://youtu.be/lVOwjWfKk9c

An artisan in the handcrafted incense industry identified a significant pain point: traditional plastic tube packaging creates environmental burdens and lacks aesthetic appeal. His customer base includes corporate gifts, government procurement, and overseas club membership souvenirs, all of which are increasingly seeking more sustainable packaging options due to carbon reduction and sustainability demands.

As a result, we spent two months developing a minimalist design for reed tubes and asked him to gather customer feedback, which was overwhelmingly positive. This new packaging aligns well with the pressures faced by corporations and government agencies to achieve net-zero and sustainable practices, making it a friendly option for eco-conscious gifts.

From an environmental perspective, this initiative promotes innovative uses of native reed species, contributes to wetland restoration, and enhances carbon sequestration. On the profit side, the procurement cost can be 2 to 10 times higher than traditional incense, allowing for profit-sharing that provides farmers collecting reeds with 1 to 5 times the market price, thereby increasing their income.

Planet: By using reeds to restore wetlands, we can sequester approximately 50 tons of carbon per hectare each year, while also improving river water quality and preventing soil erosion. This approach helps mitigate the climate crisis and restores degraded ecosystems. Therefore, we promote a carbon trading model based on reed carbon sequestration, which has garnered support from officials in Taiwan's Environmental Protection Department and academic organizations. We also conduct local workshops to promote the application of reed materials and wetland restoration.

People: We collaborate with local communities to provide services related to the planting, harvesting, and processing of reeds, creating sustainable livelihoods for farmers. Additionally, as businesses and government agencies respond to national net-zero goals, we assist these entities—along with individuals and organizations—in meeting their carbon reduction needs in line with green procurement standards.

Profit: Our sustainable business model not only generates revenue through carbon credit sales but also sells handcrafted incense made from reed tubes, yielding profits that are 2 to 10 times higher than traditional incense sales. This allows us to offer better purchasing prices, benefiting farmers and local teams involved in execution. Furthermore, the government currently spends money each year to remove invasive native reeds. We can help save these removal costs, transforming agricultural waste into a new business model through the sale of reed materials.

#Material #Ecosystem #Carbon

We are assisting government agencies in Wuxi, Pingtung County, where there is a large area of invasive native reeds. In 2024, we launched a one-year local revitalization workshop project. This initiative will transform the annual costs associated with removing these reeds. Instead, we collect the reed materials to produce handcrafted incense in reed tubes, which will be sold as gifts to companies and government agencies that are committed to achieving net-zero goals through their ESG and sustainable procurement practices.

Nearly every country faces a range of threats to river management, including:

1. Climate change.
2. Agricultural intensification.
3. Habital loss.
4. Biodiversity Loss.

To address these challenges, including sustainable clean water resources, habitat restoration, agricultural and community economic development, and climate adaptation strategies, we develop a solution for "turning river wasteland/wetland into blue carbon & reed material innovation.

1. We planted reeds in the wasteland of rivers in Hualien in 2020. Until now, we successfully restored the ecology and purified water quality, allowing local farmers to generate additional economic income.
2. Organize sustainable reed tourism & workshops to promote ecological and environmental protection education.
3. Develop Reed's carbon & material sales as a new option for future sales to enterprises as carbon offsets.

To promote innovative uses of reeds and wetland restoration, we aim to make these concepts easily understandable for businesses, individuals, government agencies, and families.

We organize environmental education trips focused on wetland and river restoration, encouraging participants to engage in hands-on experiences like planting along rivers, weaving with reeds, creating reed straws, and DIY projects for reed lamps.

Additionally, we collaborate with government departments to launch annual local revitalization workshops. We invite scholars, professors, students, and individuals interested in the circular economy to participate in discussions and plan experimental projects together.