Innovation

Vetas is a consumer goods company based in India with three founders who want to eliminate the use of plastics, especially single-use plastics, and who want to encourage people around the country to accept the same in their lifestyle. The lifestyle brand is not just a company that sells products, rather, they promote sustainable lifestyles via their products. The first product introduced was a toothbrush. The interesting fact about their toothbrush is that it’s made of bamboo which makes it strong, durable, and at the same time biodegradable.

‘Bamboo is a grass that grows approximately 3 feet in a day and takes about 4 to 6 months to decompose.’ Isn’t it a great alternative for single-use plastics that takes thousands of years to decompose? Moreover, products made of bamboo are strong, durable, anti-bacterial, and anti-fungal which are all good for a healthy lifestyle. According to the research done by the team at Vetas, “During Covid, people became more aware and conscious for their health and interested in adopting a healthy lifestyle.” Hence, Vetas was founded last year, during the ongoing global pandemic.

Towards Sustainable Living

Inspiration

Shubham Singhal, the co-founder of Vetas, talked about his research that he conducted a year ago, on the business model. He shared, “Almost 4 to 5 loads of plastic waste are dumped every day in water bodies, 80% of which is single-use, and marine life is affected to a large extent due to this. By 2025, 1 tonne of plastic will be available for every 3 tonnes of fish.” This realization had a deep impact on him. Because of this realization, he wanted to introduce products that can eliminate the use of single-use plastic and can protect life below water. This is a huge concern that needs to be taken care of with immediate effect. Since the beginning, nature has given humanity so much and continues to provide us with the resources. We should protect it in return, as our gratitude, and make this world a better place for everyone.

We all are well aware of the three R’s - Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, but unfortunately, we fail to practice it in our daily lives. Shubham with his fellow co-founders, Sanchit Saini and Utkarsh Dhiman, wanted to make people, especially the youth, aware of their responsibility towards mother earth and help in making this world a better place for everyone. With this common mission and a dream of having a start-up, the three friends started to build a reliable team that had the same vision. ‘Vetas’ was thus born and taking its first step towards sustainability.

The name ‘Vetas’ is inspired by the Sanskrit word ‘Vetasah’ which translates to English as ‘Bamboo’. The logo of the company has bamboo as well which represents the business's main theme to the potential customers.

Overall impact

Vetas’ products are cruelty and toxin-free, carbon-neutral. Sustainable packaging is used since the company believes in responsible waste management. Hence, Vetas is determined to make a positive impact on the planet by focusing on UN SDGs ‘12 - Responsible Consumption and Production', ‘13 - Climate Action’, ‘14 - Life Below Water’ and ‘15 - Life On Land’.

In the interview, Shubham mentioned, “Climate change is real and everyone can see it. Our generation needs to take steps to procure and secure the world for the coming generations, but people hesitate to adopt a change.” To make youth aware of the concerning climate changes and environmental degradation and to promote sustainable lifestyles amongst family and the community, Vetas works with students from various colleges across India.

Business benefit

Vetas is established in India. In the interview, Shubham talked about how ‘approximately 40% of India’s total population prefer shopping online and how that number been increasing rapidly. Shubham also mentioned that as they started ‘Vetas’ in the middle of the pandemic, they thought of doing a pilot through their website first, with a few products, instead of going offline.’ The most interesting thing that happened with Vetas, as a for-profit business, was that within two days of opening the online store, it sold out! This incident was marked to be a huge success and motivation for everyone involved with establishing Vetas, and it also served as proof that people across India are willing to accept a sustainable lifestyle.

Customers play an important role in making a business successful. While doing their job towards the environment effectively, Vetas did not fail to prioritize customer satisfaction. Their customers praise the quality of the products and highly recommend them. Vetas started with very few products, but over time, it has introduced a variety of eco-friendly products that maintain quality standards that have attracted a huge number of customers around the country.

Social and environmental benefit

Through Vetas’ innovative sustainable products, their customers are also able to actively participate in protecting the environment. For example, through their ‘Plant-able seed pencils’ (Yes! As interesting and creative as it sounds), with a seed rooted at the end of each pencil, customers can plant the pencil in the soil after use and it will grow into an actual tree. Moreover, these pencils are made of recycled paper. The company also has products made of coconut shells which are collected from farmers and local sellers. As demonstrated by these examples, Vetas has introduced a variety of sustainable products that help people realize their role towards alarming environmental conditions.

Vetas make products out of materials such as bamboo and neem wood. Unlike how plastics do, neither of these materials harm animals nor their livelihood and these can be easily decomposed without polluting the environment.

In addition to selling environmental-friendly products, the business posts blogs on their website to help make customers and other viewers aware of the environmental crises and related topics happening around. These customers become informed about how they can do their part in making our planet a better place for generations yet to come.

Interview

Shubham Singhal, Co-founder