Sustain and Save, at bamboo promotion week, had a very knowledgeable and interactive session with the founder of "ECOBUDDY", Mr. Suraj Said.
Mr. Suraj Said is a mechanical engineer from Pune, completed his masters in the UK. He is very passionate about the environment from childhood. His volunteer work at weekends like planting trees and plastic cleanup drives from childhood shows the passion for sustainable development. He joined Transparent energy systems in Pune as "Project engineer". But he wanted to do something more, for making earth a better place to live.
It's a culture in India that, when anyone who returns from abroad, finds India to be a very dirty and unsustainable place to live, but no one takes initiative to make it a better place. Mr. Suraj founded his own company "We are EcoBuddy" in September 2018 and started promoting sustainability, segregation of waste in schools, colleges, and even in residential societies.He got all the support like motivational, mental, and financial from his family and friends. The First 6 months were focused on research and development like how to reduce plastic pollutants and how to replace them.
After the excellent market research and groundwork, the feedback received was, people were aware of sustainability, but not able to buy sustainable products easily. That was the turning point when he realized that people should get sustainable solutions for every plastic and Single-use product. Then the company name was changed to "EcoBuddy". It was a small step towards a sustainable future by establishing "EcoBuddy" but was a giant leap in the country. The belief that sustainable products are "old-school" changed to the "coolest thing". This change has been brought up by excellent leadership and a passion to provide people with amazing sustainable products.
EcoBuddy launched its product in the market for the first time on 1stMay 2019 through various e-commerce websites and stores. It provides international standard sustainable products at a reasonable rate and operates in more than 12 countries.Mr. Suraj’s tremendous idea of contacting his friends living abroad, to promote the products was the reason behind international reach of the products. EcoBuddy does not manufacture any product, but outsource them. Mr. Suraj was of the thinking that if we manufacture, it will be restricted to one product. But the vision was to provide a sustainable solution to every plastic product. The company have rigorous quality-control tests of all the outsourced products and collaborate with only those shops which promote organic and sustainable products. EcoBuddy is also connected to various big celebs like Shraddha Kapoor and some big influencers for promoting the products.
The major challenge faced by the company was "packaging". There is no meaning of selling sustainable products by packing it by plastic tapes and using unsustainable things. After so many consultations, reached a milestone of "Zero-Plastic Packaging".
EcoBuddy does not believe in competition. Rather, believes that 100 or more "eco-entrepreneurs" should collaborate to fight against Plastic companies and cater to the needs and provide quality and pocket-friendly sustainable products to every corner of India.
In the first year itself, the turnover is more than 10 lakhs per annum.
- Bamboo toothbrush
- Stainless steel straws
- Bamboo fiber coffee mugs
- Stainless steel tongue cleaner
These are some of the most famous products which are available in various colours and design. It is a belief that these are "one-time-buy" products as they will last longer than an average person's life. You will have to buy only if you have lost it. The company advise people to:
"CHOOSE SUSTAINABLE, DEGRADABLE AND REUSABLE PRODUCTS WHICH ARE DURABLE"
By : Aditya Dharkar