World Environment Day was on June 5 and this year’s theme was #BeatPlasticPollution. And it couldn’t have come at a better time. Plastic, especially single-use plastic is drowning the earth and at this rate, we won’t have a home left. At Kosha, we take our responsibility to the planet very seriously. We realized that most packaging materials were non-biodegradable and therefore a problem. So, we set out to do something green about it.
Our founder, Yuktie, is a travel enthusiast and endorses green living. She felt strongly about using plastic and wanted to use eco-friendly packaging, one that could be reused. Post-intensive research, discussion, dedication and teamwork, an idea was born. We knew that as a company, sustainability across all business activities was imperative to us. This included packaging, materials and shopping bags used in our store as well e-commerce. So, step one was to reinvent our shopping bags.
Once the reusable shopping bags were in place, we looked at setting up a repair workshop to fix sold worn-out garments. We wanted to put the cap on excessive consumption even if it meant a dampener on our sales. The response to this free service has been heartening as customers also prefer to mend than discard the product due to wear and tear. Kosha’s policy of not harming or testing on animals during the manufacturing process was also drawn into the company ethos. While we were putting all these pieces together, the idea of collaborating with a reputed design institute came about. Post-short-listing few colleges, Ecole Intuit Lab was finalized to take this project live. Kosha’s brief to the students was simple.
1. The material should be environment-friendly.
2. The design should be smart for re-use.
3. The packaging should allow for individual packing of gloves, t-shirts, sweaters, and jackets.
4. The sizes would be S/ M/ L.
Six teams ANNS, DANZA, HENAL, JMPV, MESL, and YA worked on this live project and were graded for their work, too. All presentations were fabulous, but there could be only one winner whose design could be chosen for the E-commerce packaging. And team YA were the ones that bagged this prize. Post final edits and sampling, the new and improved Kosha Jute bags in three sizes were pushed for manufacturing.
1. Kosha’s Small Ecom Packaging bag when reversed converts to a small wristlet bag.
2. Kosha’s Medium Ecom Packaging bag when reversed converts to a back-pack.
3. Kosha’s Large Ecom Packaging bag when reversed converts into a shopping bag
Team Kosha is doing their bit for the environment and with some encouraging words from our clients.
“Dear Yuktie,
I called your company board to speak personally to someone in charge. I was given your name by your board operator and was told you were out of the office for a couple of days. I am writing in to compliment your company. I bought a pair of Kosha socks from the Amazon website and received your package today. I must say that I was very impressed with your packaging and was delighted to see that you have creatively solved the big problem of packaging waste that such online orders generate. The reusable Jute Bag as packaging is an excellent idea worthy of praise. Though I normally do not reuse the branded carry-bags given by various brands, your idea was so good that I am proudly going to carry this bag around and show everyone how smart ideas can help preserve the environment. Kudos! To your team for this great idea and execution.”
Such words of open appreciation for our ethos keeps us going. At Kosha, our mantra has always been to simplify things. We looked at clean solutions without the paraphernalia, and we did it because it’s the right thing to do. We owe the earth, our home our gratitude. So, if you are looking at making a change, look inward. Start small. Together, our tiny steps will get us there someday.
