Growing up in India, Jinali Mody '23 M.E.M. was struck by the environmental impact of the country's fashion industry. India is, for instance, a major producer of the world's leather, a resource-intensive and highly polluting material.
At the same time, she noticed that vegan leather alternatives - including products made from PVC plastic or polyurethane - aren't exactly sustainable either. In fact, like most plastics those alternatives are derived from the petrochemical sector and will never biodegrade.
Mody thought there had to be a better way - and she eventually found it.
Mody, 28, is now helping to redefine how we think about waste, sustainability, and fashion through her company Banofi Leather, which makes plant-based leather from banana crop waste. The material, she says, is vegan, does not harm animals, and uses 90% less water and has 90% lower carbon emissions than leather produced from animals.
On Tuesday she was one of three young entrepreneurs to win a 2025 Young Champion of the Earth award from the UN Environment Programme and American cleantech CEO Chris Kemper at an event during Climate Week in New York. Award recipients will receive seed funding, mentoring, communications support, and a global platform to showcase and scale their solutions.
