“At ecoSansar, we are creating a market place for end-to-end sustainable options– Everything that you would need for a zero-waste lifestyle from a sustainable source”, Gayatri Joshi, Founder, ecoSansar. Gayatri, an engineer working in the IT industry is now a mom and a social entrepreneur!
Every inch of the road was covered with plastic and dead entangled marine lives…yes, that really happens…not somewhere far away, but very close to our own homes, in oceans, in lakes and streams and we are directly impacted!
Inspiration
Having been brought up in Mumbai before settling in Bengaluru, oceans and beaches had always been a very integral part of my life. During the Mumbai floods in July 2005 the ocean literally threw all the garbage back into the city and that’s when the magnitude of our disposable plastic problem really hit me! and I stopped using plastic as much as possible. Thats when the seed of ecoSansar was actually sown which later took root in June 2018, starting with rural handicrafts
Moreover, after having a family I realised how it was getting increasingly difficult to run a household without plastic. I figured that like me many other consumers must be wanting to live a more ecofriendly life but may not be able to due to lack of options. That’s when the idea and vision of ecoSansar was born, with the goal of being part of a solution to the single use plastic problem.
ecoSansar took shape in 2018
ecoSansar started almost 5 years ago in Bengaluru with sustainability and equal opportunities as its core business values. What began as a venture to promote rural plant fiber based handicrafts in the urban market, went on to improve the sustainability impact further and added daily life items like groceries, home essentials and self-care products.
To ensure end to end sustainability and to avoid plastic packaging, ecoSansar began working on the principles of circular economy which states that all resources should be put to use until its end of life and only then sent for recycling. Their USP is that all the packaging is collected back for reuse, thus AVOIDING single use packaging waste.
We take back our packagings and Reuse for Refill. This is an essential part of our zerowaste delivery process as we make sure that our packagings are repurposed, functional and make use of existing resources.
The Struggles
Awareness and consciousness towards carbon footprint was very low when we had started. And so every consumer had to be nearly taught about sustainability. Also, switching to sustainable lifestyle is a habit breaking process for everyone which requires a bit of unlearning and so even if the consumers are aware of the benefits of sustainability for themselves and the earth, the adaptability has been slow. A complete lack of any government support in terms of subsidies and environment friendly policies, the change is not economically competitive compared to the current ‘Use and Throw’ lifestyle. This limits the market size of sustainability to only the ones who can afford it which in turn limits the impact. The pandemic of course came with its own share of problems and we were forced to shut our store to cut costs. We are currently working only in an online format and still going strong.
The Milestones
Every single packaging that gets repurposed/reused for refill is a victory for us as we save almost 58 gallons of water for every 1500 packagings saved from landfills.
Mission & Vision
ecoSansar wishes to enable an urban lifestyle that can be guilt free and sustainable. We want to give our consumers the choice of conscious consumerism, where you can live without harming the beautiful environment! Nature has a circular system to ensure everything is back in the cycle and nothing is wasted, a wonderful rhythm which allows every living being to thrive! This circular cycle is what we are immensely inspired by and are trying to incorporate it into the urban lifestyle! Zerowaste can be a reality and we are inching towards it one product at a time, one conscious citizen at a time!
Website: www.ecosansar.com
