Coronavirus has made hygiene a rule to abide by. Unfortunately, most of the conventional cleaners are derived out of chemicals and increase water pollution: Urban Indian households release 21.6 billion liters of water contaminated with harsh chemical cleaners down the drain every single day. Bengaluru-based The Better Home, India’s first sustainability-focused consumer brand, aims to address this problem by bringing plant-based, child- and pet-friendly cleaners that have already saved 15 million liters of harmful chemicals from flowing into the ocean in Q1 FY20-21, having already sold over 21,000 bottles.
Better Home products have received phenomenal feedback from the community and customers and active customers. Celebrities who are known to be passionate about the environment such as Dia Mirza, Neha Dhupia, Sandhya Mridul and Chinmayi Sripradha have taken to social media to praise the efficacy of the product and the brand’s sustainable ways.
“We extensively researched the carbon, energy, green, and brown water footprints of available packaging options. Alternatives like steel, glass, and bio-plastics exist, but each one of them comes with their limitations. Metal and glass, for instance, have a higher footprint if one accounts for mining, processing, and even shipping. Bio-plastics, as trendy as they sound as alternatives, are yet to undergo research to establish their real impact on the environment, and their production at scale is still a challenge. There is no such thing as a purely sustainable material; there are, however, Sustainable Systems – which is what we created. Our first kit comes in reusable plastic bottles, and all subsequent kits contain paper pouches, which one can empty into these bottles. We also run a take-back program where you can send the refill pouches and the bottles back to us for responsible disposal and up-cycling.” says Anuradha Kedia, Co-founder, The Better Home.
All refill pouches are sent in self-addressed envelopes, and customers are encouraged to send these back to the company in case they have no means to recycle/upcycle it themselves. They have partnered with an NGO to collect these materials and recycle them to ensure they don’t end up in landfills and oceans.
“We have engaged MSMEs in Ahmedabad and Pune to manufacture the products. As we scale, we will engage more local businesses and impact more livelihoods. We are passionate about making the world a better place to live in and are excited about the large-scale lasting impact the brand will create,” the enthusiastic founders say.
