Plastic water bottles and cans are something Suneeth Tatineni never understood, having come from a generation that stacked their fridge with glass bottles and kitchen with massive steel garhas (cans). And since there is a growing concern for the ever-growing plastic menace, this is the problem statement Suneeth and his brother-in-law and co-founder Chaitanya Ayinapudi (30) decided to tackle. So what started as an idea nine months ago shaped into Caro Water in June 2021 and Suneeth proceeds to tell us all about it.
"The primary point we understood from the research that we conducted around our problem statement was that it would be extremely difficult to eliminate plastic completely but what we can do is reduce it to the bare minimum and use recycled material for the rest," begins the 33-year-old. That's how they proposed a sustainable packaging option using corrugated cardboard boxes. For every five-litre water box that you purchase, only 40 grams of plastic is used. That is the amount of plastic used in a one-litre plastic bottle. Basically, it's 85 per cent cardboard and 15 per cent plastic — and everything is 100 per cent recyclable.
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The Caro Water app steps in to make life simpler too, you can subscribe to their packages and as per your requested frequency, the box will be delivered and the empty cardboard box will be picked up from your doorstep. For every empty box you return, Rs 5 will be sent to your e-wallet. "We started offering this incentive, including the doorstep pick-up, to make our customers a part of our recycling process," says Suneeth who pursued his Master's in Computer Systems Security from University of South Wales, UK.
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Suneeth wistfully recalls his childhood days spent in Elakuru, Andhra Pradesh, where they would drink water straight from the borewells, a proposition that sounds absurd in today. So the water in the Caro Water box goes through a filtration process and is infused with magnesium, sodium, calcium and copper, the last of which is vital in boosting immunity. "This becomes a matter of much importance, especially in the context of COVID," reminds the entrepreneur. Three litres of Caro Water supplies 60% of your daily copper requirement. Clearly, they don't just care about the BPA-free box, they care about what's in it too. They have their manufacturing unit at Bachupally and water plant at Jeedimetla.
Three vehicles, four Scooties and about seven delivery executives — this is the operational team behind Caro Water and soon, they want to use e-vehicles for their delivery, taking their care for the environment a step further. "Creating employment opportunities for others has also always been on our agenda and we will continue to focus on it," says Suneeth who has previously worked at Infosys as an Associate Consultant. What lies ahead is changing the packaging game for cold-pressed oils, juices and maybe even flavoured water, because why not? The research is on track anyway.
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Everything is new for the entrepreneur who is the Managing Director of Caro Water and hence, every day brings new learnings. But he is glad to have Chaitanya as his CEO by his side and they are completely in sync with what they want to achieve — a more sustainable tomorrow.
For more on them check out carowater.com
