Kamayani Tiwari, an engineer from Mumbai University was developing applications for a living when she was intrigued by the technology of urban gardening and minimalism. Slowly, she started researching into a sustainable lifestyle – minimal and consumption conscious and thus, “ZeroWasteShop India” was born in 2019. “I initially wanted to start a blog, but as I moved forward, I realised that not every product is same and is available everywhere thus I went on to start an online store,” she says.
However, the journey to the creation of an eco-friendly brand was not as simple as the first few lines. Kamayani had to invest all her time and savings in making this brand come to life. The major challenge was to spread extensive awareness about sustainable living, something that is not widely popular in India. “People couldn’t relate to what we were saying, because they didn’t know the problem at that time, only now they are realising the problems that are harming our environment,” she says. “For example, I am a minimalist, but my family is not, it took a while for them to see my business grow to understand the concept of sustainability,” she adds.
Hosting a wide range of sustainable brands from across the country, the zerowasteshop has everything under one roof. From Bamboo toothbrushes and toothpaste tablets to paper stationery and eco-friendly crockery. In addition to marketing the products, Kamayani also uses her social media handle to spread awareness about climate change and other environmental problems caused by humans thus, also fulfilling her dream of having a blog. “Our brand is about promoting sustainable lifestyle solutions, money and business come secondary,” she says.
Aiming to be a zero-waste brand as the name suggests, the brand focuses on reducing their carbon footprint with every order they fulfil. “We use a lot of newspapers, paper tapes while packing our products and ensure that our customers either recycle the packaging or send them back to us so we can reuse or recycle them,” Kamayani says about their measures to reduce waste. Currently, they are experimenting with compostable packaging that will decompose within 60-90 days.
Managed by herself and her friend, Dakshin, juggling her full-time job and the business, she occasionally has to rely on help from her family and friends when it comes to packaging and handling deliveries. Working on a tight budget and 17 hours a day, there is nothing that can deter her determination in making a change she has always been dreamed of. Even with the pandemic, the brand faced its own share of losses and had to shut down their godown and cancel orders as they couldn’t fulfil them. However, with the lockdown, slowly easing they have resumed deliveries pan India and slowly, the business is picking up its pace.
Planning to expand her reach to as many people as possible and be a sustainability ambassador, she believes that if one really wants to do something, then they must because that is what keeps the soul happy.
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