Many cities in India are facing the worst-ever water crisis. One of the major reasons is the ineffective use of water. This is what intrigued Goutam Surana enough to start Eco365. Passionate about the cause, Surana quit his IT job to spread awareness on water conservation.
Eco365 helps corporates and individuals become more responsible with their water usage with a range of innovative sustainable products. “Since 2010, we have helped more than 2,000 large properties across India save water and go green. A majority of Eco365’s offerings are easy to adopt and results in the immediate protection of natural resources. Eco365 supports and compliments a corporate’s environment health and safety initiatives with its product range,” says the 35-year-old.
Goutam spent his childhood close to nature in a small town in Assam and was always inclined to contribute to the environment. “I come from Goalpara in Assam. The town, on the banks of the Brahmaputra, has an abundance of water and greenery. This made me inclined towards nature. While working for an IT company in Hyderabad, I realised that rapid urbanisation has lead to an unsustainable way of living. That’s when I started researching and within a few months ideated Eco365,” he says, “My research made me realise that India is a water-stressed country and water efficiency solutions to help properties save water hold a huge business potential.”
Goutam and his team use different methods to spread awareness on water conservation like organising community talks, one-to-one meetings with property management teams, attending green events, displays at expos, paid promotion on social media, viral video content creation, collaborating with similar groups, corporates event sponsorship and website and blog write-ups. They also organise workshops on water scarcity and conservation in communities, corporates, schools and so on. “A majority of our energy goes into spreading awareness on water conservation. We are now collaborating with more and more green community groups to reach out to people with sustainable living inclinations,” he explains.
Goutam believes that no awareness of water efficiency is a major challenge in the country as people have less inclination towards conserving water. Since water is cheap or free at many facilities, one has no monetary gains by conserving water and this doesn’t encourage its proper use. “Unlike Western countries, there are no mandates, policies or norms on water efficiency by the government,” he avers.
Eco365 strives to provide solutions to save water in domestic and commercial spaces. “We could retrofit existing taps, health faucets, toilets in existing properties to save water up to 80 per cent. Or we could say our products reduce water wastage in plumbing fixtures by making them efficient,” he says.
As for the future, they plan to venture into the international market. They also plan to make water savers available to every Indian household through different channels.
