Pakistani woman's start-up idea selected by business incubator in Belgium

BRUSSELS: "Green Calories" is Shafaq Sarfaraz's way of bringing together people who care about personal health and the environment. Her ingenious idea to promote a cleaner environment has been selected by an international business incubator in Belgium, which aims to promote talent from various cultural groups in the country.

Shafaq has a degree in Finance from London School of Business's international program via Roots College International and is in Belgium to pursue Masters in Katholieke Universiteit Leuven university.

She told Geo News that she wanted to start her own business after studies, and was mentored by B-sprouts Incubator. "My idea combines maintaining cleanliness and being active and healthy. I got my inspiration from my grandfather who does hard labour just to sweat. At 90, he's healthy, has sound sleep and a good appetite."

Shafaq is prototyping a community application which will combine connectable Internet of Things (IoT) devices, which would provide a platform for people who want to lose calories and at the same time help in cleaning the environment. The devices will measure how much trash is collected and would potentially help in differentiating between the types of trash, such as glass and plastic. Such data could help, say, recycling companies to keep track of what their trash constitutes of.

"Also, users can also know how 'green' they are, and what their score is in helping the environment. They can even compare their scores with others," Shafaq excitedly tells Geo News.

The deputy prime minister of Belgium Alexander de Croo looked impressed with her project and took special interest in hearing her idea.

Edited by Sindhu Abassi