Archive for the ‘Eco-biz’ Category

The 'model' totes…

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

The local veg market

Compact Tote among veggies

Compact Tote with even more veggies

The eco purchase in progress

The vibrant fruits and veggies

"I wish all my customers would bring a reusable bag to buy veggies"..thought the veg seller :)

We’ve been taking pics of our tote family for the online store. We’re trying to be as eco friendly as possibly using natural light for most of the pics. Folks in the building intrigued, amused, think we have a really cool job (which we do).

The bags virtually have a mind of their own. They change their expressions often and unexpectedly ( we now have huge admiration and respect for folks who photograph birds and animals )

Last week the scene of action moved to a local vegetable market for photography of the Compact Totes . The vegetable sellers and customers who happened to be at the market then were curious and interested. One good outcome was that it helped them to appreciate the value of a reusable cloth bag..

A few decades ago a visit to the local veg market necessarily meant carrying you own reusable bag . The veg vendors had no plastic to give away. This is one of the aspects of life where it’s appropriate and essential to say “let’s bring back the good old days”.

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Creativity unfolding..

Monday, April 4th, 2011

Amxma folding bicycle comes with an integrated basket for your groceries.

In folded form, the bike functions like a shopping cart. Now you can leave your car at home and travel to the supermarket on your bicycle.

Love the idea of combining functions in a product. Makes for a creative world . And a more sustainable one. Since we’d need fewer stuff to fulfill our requirements.

* This would not be allowed yet into Indian supermarkets !

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Our only world..

Sunday, April 3rd, 2011

For the first time ever – at a Mumbai supermarket was able to buy 4 different fruits without a single plastic bag ! Requested the store associate to avoid plastic bags. Handed her my Compact Tote . The store didn’t have many customers in the morning . Possibly therefore she accepted. It was clearly a new task. Other store associates gathered around her to see why she was juggling fruits on the weighing machine when they should be neatly packed in individual plastic bags.

Larger/busy super markets (in Mumbai ) don’t have the people or the bandwidth for handling such a request . Often fishing out a reusable bag and insisting on avoiding plastic would evoke expressions akin to witnessing shoplifting or something equally inappropriate.

It appears that retailers are not sensitized to the avoidable waste and environmental problems associated with plastic bags. Seldom does one see store associates try to minimize the number of bags. It’s clearly not a priority or even an issue on which to train store associates.

Supermarkets in Mumbai have the practice of asking (rather insisting) that customers leave their mid-size / large bags at the entry point. Ostensibly to deter shop lifting . So it’s quite unimaginable to be able to enter a Mumbai super market with a bag that’s even partly filled with purchases made elsewhere. In that sense , shopping for veggies and fruits at the local open market is definitely more eco-friendly besides being time efficient.

Supermarkets in India can help create a more sustainable world by encouraging and enabling customers to bring their own reusable bag.To be fair to the retailers there is a cultural issue of customers asking / haggling for extra plastic bags. But, when the supermarkets can enforce draconian procedures of ‘leave your bags at the entry point’ to reduce their losses they can apply some thought to reduce the loss to the wider environment of which they are a part.

Your voice as a customer counts. Pl request the stores your frequent to use eco-friendly ways to pack their products.

This is OUR world . Our ONLY world . Let’s make it sustainable.

No one can do everything. But everyone can do a LOT.

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Clean Planet Online Store coming soon…

Wednesday, March 16th, 2011

Since the time Clean Planet has been launched we’re delighted , over whelmed , inspired by the love and appreciation we’ve received from the growing Clean Planet community across the world. While Clean Planet totes are available at several locations there’s a huge part of the planet we are currently not available at. Friends and fans of Clean Planet write in with their requests and we accept their requirements (esp when the totes are not available in retail in their city) . Doing this for a few months sparked off the idea to create the Clean Planet Store on-line.

We’ve been working on the Clean Planet on-line store that will be launched soon. Months of work, spirited debate (that continues) , joy , care, anticipation , planning are some of the ingredients going into the making of the store. It’s our first time ever. We’re loving every bit of it.

We would love to hear your views , ideas , suggestions for what you would love to see in YOUR Clean Planet store .You could also share your experiences , concerns , joy , expectations about online purchases which will help us understand your perspective .  And oh , inspire us by sharing about your fav online store and what you love about them.

Mail us at hello@cleanplanet.in

Charm us with your feedback and ideas . You’ll win our appreciation and a gift !:)

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Create joy with the 'Bag of the Year'

Monday, January 17th, 2011

A cool way to use your ‘Bag of the Year’ .

Hang in your cupboard or room to store all the happy memories of 2011..letters from loved ones , birthday cards, your accomplishments etc. Dive into the bag at any time of the year and fish out a happy memory. The joy it brings will send out vibrations to attract even more joy !:)

Hmmm….maybe we should call this ‘Bag of 2011 Joy’ !:)

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Re-think badges

Tuesday, December 21st, 2010

There is no doubt that single use , disposable plastic products need to be done away with. Replaced instead with reusable , biodegradable materials . In daily life products like plastic bags , cups , cutlery can and should be replaced.

Businesses can also do their bit to reduce consumption of single use disposable plastic . Most exhibitions hand out plastic badges with some printed material. Most cases the visitor’s name and company details are printed on the paper. The function can still be served by paper and the cord/tape . Why is a plastic cover needed ?

We suspect that one reason why this has not received much attention is that the product is low cost . It does not pinch the exhibiton organizer’s wallet to buy plastic badges. Plus , it’s not a daily use item for most people . One may visit 4-5 such events in a year.

Yet , given the number of exhibitions held across the world – doing away with plastic badges would make a definite and substantial reduction in the plastic that ends up in land-fills every year.

Do write in to share your views and ideas on how this can be re-designed for a less waste + better design /more sustainable world.

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Vintage clothing

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

This morning I pulled out a 4 year old black knit top..smiling at the memories of various occasions when I had worn it. It still looks new. Had a stray thought if it looks out of style. A concern put to rest by a young designer who has recently joined our team. She spontaneously said she loved it.

Set me thinking about vintage clothing. In a world of fast fashion a 4 year old garment possibly qualifies as vintage !:) There is an undeniable joy in wearing something over years . Each memory associated with it makes it increasingly special.

There is a definite merit in buying fewer , high quality items. Makes for more joyous wearing and definitely a more sustainable world.

Our hope for Clean Planet totes is that they stay on for years with the wearers . Circa winter 2020 – many wonderful folks across the planet dive into their wardrobe and pull out their warm totes (bought in 2010) to be their eco-companion for the season.

Amen !

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Acqua viva

Wednesday, December 8th, 2010

Love the zen like look of Acqua Viva. This by itself can persuade anyone to turn eco !:)

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Bamboo grandeur

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

Bamboo is the stuff of green dreams these days. Not only is it a winning combination of strong, lightweight and flexible; it also scores highly in the sustainable stakes, being super fast growing and easy to harvest locally in many parts of the world. What’s more, it is increasingly being lauded for its aesthetic qualities. None of this is news to any architect worth their salt – but one in particular, Vietnamese virtuoso Vo Trong Nghia, stands out for his exceptional bamboo designs.

The cafe’s frame measures 30 feet high and features an opening at the very top of the dome that allows daylight to stream inside. Like many other Vietnamese structures, it is covered in a local bush plant, which evokes an African-esque aesthetic. And contrary to what you might think about building with natural, local materials, the end result is not “homemade” looking at all and is actually rather streamlined and majestic.

This is a trail blazer in several ways-

- It’s possible to design large structures with natural , renewable , biodegradable materials

- It is possible to design something this huge without a nail

- The structure built can look awesome and inspiring

- The wisdom of a culture can find new and beautiful expression while creating a sustainable world

Each industry is plagued with self and world limiting beliefs . Creations such as these jolt , delight , inspire us to look afresh and create anew.

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Once is not enough

Monday, November 29th, 2010

At our office we reuse packaging a great deal . Cartons , polybags , envelopes are neatly opened to enable reuse. Any paper bags received are definitely reused. We recently made envelopes from magazine paper. Now we’re exploring Furoshiki inspired packing options for some materials that we send out to clients.

Packaging of most products is a resource intensive activity . Paper , plastic is used liberally by manufacturers ,retailers. Most of which is discarded on receipt of the material. At every stage we can and must explore + implement ways to minimize packaging to serve the purpose of the product being transported from A to B in a safe , neat condition. Even so we can find ourselves with hillocks of packaging material. It makes no sense to toss away packaging received and buy fresh packaging material.Reuse. Reuse.Reuse. Recycle. Once is definitely not enough.

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