Green sells in the huge marketplace that is the world today, and few marketers have leveraged this fad as successfully as Aparna Bhatnagar of the Green and Good Store. Aparna started the online retail store in September 2009 with a focus on using consumerism to bring about environmental change, which is closely linked to a number of other factors.
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| Aparna Bhatnagar |
“You have to look at the entire picture of sustainability: environment, social and economical
empowerment, poverty, traditional knowledge – all these issues are very closely linked,” explains Aparna.
Quite a number of the store’s products are sourced from NGOs and other green and social oriented businesses. In fact, the Green and Good Store works with more than 25 artisan and NGO groups, retailing products made by artisans from all over India. These range from apparel and home furnishings to stationery and jewellery. Sadhna, an NGO based in Udaipur, which works with tribal women, sells its apparel through the store. Ahimsa silk products form part of the store’s collection, as do cruelty free leather products from Artisans Alliance of Jawaja.
“The most popular products are organic cotton maternity wear. Ahimsa silk stoles sell very well. Candles made of beeswax and natural extracts are seasonal and sell well during festivals like Diwali,” says Aparna.
Indeed, the Green and Good Store is taking the initiative to make festivals more eco-friendly. It retails Holi colours made by an organization called the AvakayamCHECK Cooperative, which works with young people with intellectual disabilities. These young people make colours from the flowers they collect from temples and hotels in Delhi, which would otherwise have ended up in the River Yamuna and polluted it.
“So, when people buy these natural colours, they buy absolutely healthy colours for themselves, prevent the Yamuna from getting polluted, and also bring employment to people with intellectual disabilities, who find it really difficult to find jobs. These people get to be part of society and financially independent, too,” explains Aparna.
In addition, her store sells Rakhi CHECK thalis from Umang, an NGO in Jaipur, which also works with people with intellectual disabilities. The thalis are made of cane and handmade paper.
Aparna says they have more initiatives coming up to make festivals green.
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Spotting an Opportunity
Aparna saw the green platform as one from which she could introduce her associate artisans to the world. “Even though many NGOs have come up to help artisans sell their products to retailers and exporters, they have still not tapped into the Internet,” says Aparna. She explains that language acts as a barrier as the artisans do not speak English. So, no effective exchange takes place.
“There was an instance of a buyer being unable to purchase a product from Artisans Alliance of Jawaja even after writing to them. They were not able to get a response due to the language barrier, so they referred the matter to us and we helped them close the deal,” she says.
Aparna says that in today’s consumer driven world, millions of rupees are spent every day: “A whole chain of things happen when a person buys a product. Our motto is that we encourage people to buy products that are good for the environment and we also ensure that the products that are sold in the market benefit people on the lowest rung of society.” Thus, those who buy from the Green and Good Store contribute towards a social and economical cause by ensuring that artisans are not exploited and receive minimum wages. “We can channel this consumption power to the development of the country and make sure that we are not exhausting the limits of our natural resources,” says Aparna.
She says the initiative also helps in preserving traditional knowledge. “We faced such a situation when we received an order for Kavad. This is a traditional handicraft of Rajasthan, which is on the verge of extinction. Only 20-25 families are involved in making this now. We put it up on our website and got an enquiry from a customer in the UK, who wanted to use it as an educational aid. They said they had been looking for something like this for over a year. Because it went online, they were able to see it and connect to the artisans,” says Aparna.
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It hasn’t been as easy as she makes it seem. “This concept is not very easy to grow. It needs a lot of convincing and talking to people,” says Aparna. “We have been in operation for slightly more than a year. So, we have not broken even. As of now, we have had sales of Rs 5 lakh.” But they are looking forward to increasing their sales to Rs 12-15 lakh next year.
Aparna says she wants to include more personal care products next year in the Green and Good Store. She says they have recently launched corporate gifts, from which they hope to get a bigger audience and, thereby, more awareness. She also has plans to tap the export market, which has a lot more demand for and awareness of such products and concepts.
“But for now, we really want to sell our products in India. There is a huge potential in India and there is a huge need in India for responsible consumerism,” she says.
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