Worried With Country’s Dependence On Plastic Polythenes, This Man From Ahmedabad Has Started Making Stylish Eco-friendly Bags

New Delhi: Every year, the world consumes 5 trillion plastic bags that if are stacked up together, would cover an area twice the size of France, states UN Environment’s latest report ‘Single-use Plastics: A roadmap for Sustainability’. Not just that, every single year, tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals, and turtles are killed from plastic bag litter in the marine environment as they often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish. These are some of the facts that many of us would read and remain indifferent but not Udit Sood from Ahmedabad an IIM-Calcutta graduate, who decided to act upon it and find a solution.

Meet Udit Sood, EcoRight Founder from Ahmedabad

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In 2017, he kick-started his own eco-friendly venture EcoRight with a motive to provide the world with greener alternatives to plastic bags, one that is made using jute, cotton and recycled cotton. Talking to NDTV about his green journey, Udit Sood said,

Going eco-friendly is not a matter of choice but a necessity today. The notion behind this green venture has come with the growing epidemic of plastic pollution and unsustainable consumption by humans. It was disheartening to see plastic bags everywhere – floating in our oceans, carelessly lying on the roads. Poly bags are used for one time but they end up poisoning our land forever. The idea was to give solutions to the citizens and stop the usage of plastic bags forever. And with this very thought, EcoRight was born.

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Since the inception of EcoRight, around one lakh eco-friendly bags have been sold thereby preventing the use of more than 2 lakh plastic polythenes. Explaining the product line and price range of EcoRight bags, Mr Sood added that the venture is not limited to India, it is also available internationally to over 200 countries. He said,

When we launched in 2017, we were only making eco-friendly tote bags but since then we have diversified into grocery bags, beach bags, lunch bags, messenger bags. All our products are eco-friendly in nature and are capable of carrying upto 10 kg weight. The price ranges from as low as Rs. 50 per bag to Rs. 1250 per bag.

In 2017, EcoRight came into existence with a motive to provide the world with greener alternatives to plastic bags

One can buy these eco-friendly bags through EcoRight’s official site and via various e-commerce sites as well. Apart from boosting the eco-friendly product line, the venture also has 100% biodegradable and compostable packaging that has been made from corn, wheat, and potato starch. Mentioning on what makes these bags different from other alternatives, Udit added,

Being eco-friendly doesn’t mean it has to be boring, with this very thought, we decided to design each bag in a fun, quirky way and made it available to citizens at an affordable price so that people actually use it.

Also Read: Upcycling Old Jeans Into Funky Bags, Mantra Of This Mumbai Woman Who Gave A Spin To 2,500 Denims

Behind the scenes: EcoRight workers making eco-friendly bags

Recently, the start-up also started making eco-friendly bags utilising plastic waste, which is in the sampling stage. In future, the venture wants to move towards other greener alternatives like edible cutlery, eco-friendly stalls and become a one-stop platform for all the eco-friendly alternatives. Mr Sood signs off by talking about the challenges he faced and a message for other entrepreneurs who wish to start something in the green space, he adds,

The only challenge we faced is awareness. Today, there are so many brands, so much advertising, so much social media clutter – our focus is just on how we can break through this and educate people about what we are doing and why it is necessary to go green.

Sharing his success mantra with other waste warriors, he further said,

Be authentic! Saving our planet requires genuine and some serious efforts and it is everyone’s duty to come up with solutions that will help beat some of the ongoing issues. There are so many problems that our planet is facing – global warming, plastic pollution, water shortages, pollution. The list goes on and on. Find a problem and its genuine solution and you will be successful.

Being in the line, EcoRight has also recently got a big opportunity to make eco-friendly bags in collaboration with Disney and Marvel as well. By the end of the year, EcoRight hopes to launch 10 new product lines.

In Pictures EcoRight Bags Line-up

NDTV – Dettol Banega Swachh India campaign lends support to the Government of India’s Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM). Helmed by Campaign Ambassador Amitabh Bachchan, the campaign aims to spread awareness about hygiene and sanitation, the importance of building toilets and making India open defecation free (ODF) by October 2019, a target set by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, when he launched Swachh Bharat Abhiyan in 2014. Over the years, the campaign has widened its scope to cover issues like air pollution, waste management, plastic ban, manual scavenging and menstrual hygiene. The campaign has also focused extensively on marine pollution, clean Ganga Project and rejuvenation of Yamuna, two of India’s major river bodies.