About a month ago, 16-year-old Preity Doshi started an initiative called The Unwanted. This small-scale, zero-waste, biodegradable product brand thrives on the three R’s of waste hierarchy — reduce, reuse and recycle — to make products of everyday use. The brand also generates employment for the underprivileged from the slums.
The youngster’s initiation into green living started early. Her mother Purvi Doshi, who is a pioneer in sustainable and vegan fashion in India, runs a boutique. Since childhood, she has been frequenting her mom’s boutique.
“My mom is already into sustainable fashion and keeps adopting different methods to reduce waste. But it wasn’t until this summer that I got inspired and felt like doing my own bit. So I started observing the world around me and everywhere I looked, there was all of this waste that ends up in landfills and pollutes the Earth. That was when I felt the need to do something about it, as I have learnt from my mother that every small step towards sustainability counts,” says Doshi.
The Unwanted creates biodegradable products made out of textile waste as its main raw material. “The idea behind this brand was to touch as many aspects of our environment as possible and environment is not only about nature but includes society as well,” points out Doshi.
She says that her brand reuses discarded material to make environment-friendly products. “All the work is done by the underprivileged women in order to generate employment opportunities for them so it is a win-win situation,” says Doshi.
The first product that they launched was a basic cleaning duster used widely in Indian households. “Soon, we will be launching lampshades, produce bags, and washable make-up remover cloth,” she says.
Talking about the process behind making these products, the young entrepreneur says that it is slightly complex for each product mainly because they have to train the semi-skilled and unskilled labourers to make the items. “We don’t get the entire product made at one place so the process is based on specialisation and individual steps,” she adds.
Doshi is of the opinion that waste management indeed is the future of the world. “The way things are going now, each one of us needs to understand that we simply cannot afford to waste anymore,” she says. She believes that for a sustainable future humans must create products out of waste to make sure no more landfills are created and the existing ones are brought under control. “It is difficult but with a little more effort we can make it happen,” says the youngster.
As a community, we also need to reduce plastic use. “We cannot buy plastic products anymore,” says Doshi adding that at The Unwanted they believe that waiting for a behavioural shift in consumers is not an option anymore.
“Co-existing with the environment has become the need of the hour because every living thing, every species has an equal right over nature and there is no superior species. Nature does not belong to anyone so we have to respect the natural space,” explains the youngster.
Even though millennials are more aware of the growing need for sustainability, it is not their responsibility alone to make it work. “More people across generations need to work towards a greener planet. I think anyone who is aware of the need and feels connected to the cause, will work towards sustainability,” she says.
