Does your carbon footprint leave trail marks on your own conscience? Well, join the club! In an era where we know too much about our own impact on the world but not enough to make the right changes, the information around sustainability is vital. Ethico, a sustainable lifestyle platform, curates thoughts, ideas and products around this very subject to help ease your journey from convenient to conscious living.
For Indranil Sengupta and Rabia Tewari, the concern was one that had left them confounded over the course of their 10 years of married life. Indranil says, “Our conscious journey began in September, 2017. We had just moved into a new apartment in Mumbai near Mahim Beach and the rains had just started. A lot of waste was piling up outside and the corporation was not responding to our calls. We got so frustrated that we decided to do it ourselves. But what started as an effort to clean a small patch of land in front of our house ended up being a 1 km stretch around the beach!”
Indranil who had just moved on from a job in the media and Rabia, who worked in New York’s corporate world for 12 years realised that they had a lot of pent up energy and resolve that they wanted to dedicate to the environment. In February, they decided to take the sentiment and spread valuable information about how to go about it through their initiative, the Mahim Beach Clean Up which became the foundation for Ethico. They had 3 main objectives: educate the neighbouring fishing community on pollution and waste management, engage with authorities and changing the individual’s mindset and and behaviour.
Rabia explains, “I myself was getting exposed to news about the environment. But the views around it were so polarising that I didn't know what to do with the information or content. We needed to dumb it down. Our volunteers at the beach clean up also agreed. By interacting with more people, we realised it was important to share other people’s conscious journeys towards leading an ethical life. Only individual behaviour can make a real impact.”
Since being set up, Ethico has shared features that cover everything from environment news, personal stories and even a dedicated section for sustainable lifestyle products. Over 10 months, the duo committed to creating a positive impact on the world. Having realised that the major issues plaguing the environment was overconsumption our own irresponsibility, it was now up to Ethico and the stories it told to try and change the core problem.
Ethico features the stories of ordinary people who have we already started their sustainable journeys. Every article is simplistic, of short length with blurbs which highlight important takeaways. “July was Plastic-Free Month. We did a story at the beginning which featured the lives of 6 individuals who had made a change in their lives. It made a huge impact because these are everyday heroes, so we can all aspire to do the same!”
The products they offer on their shop page are tried and tested by their team. When they began their research it, they realised that a variety of products were available that were low on carbon footprints, which they integrated into the platform. Currently, the page has over 25,000 members who have registered on to the platform.
