26th November 2019: To assemble the 2019 TIME Best Inventions list, TIME solicited nominations across a variety of categories from editors and correspondents around the world, as well as through an online application process. Each contender was then evaluated on key factors, including originality, effectiveness, ambition, and influence.
The result: 100 groundbreaking inventions that are changing the way we live, work, play and think about what’s possible.
SAATHI was shortlisted in the “Social Good” category as Conscious Hygiene company.
In parts of India, huge numbers of women don’t have access to sanitary napkins. When the founders of Saathi pads decided to try to tackle the problem, they wanted to do it in an eco-friendly way. So they created pads made from banana fibers that they say are 100% biodegradable. This also helps the local community: Saathi buys its materials from farmers who might otherwise throw the banana fibers away, and employs underprivileged women to produce the pads. The company recently launched a new product made from bamboo fibers. The innovative products provide “a hygienic, effective alternative to improve the lives of women without creating any negative environmental impact,” says Kristin Kagetsu, one of the company’s co-founders. She estimates that more than 6,000 women now use Saathi pads. —Amy Gunia
See the full list here: time.com/bestinventions2019
