Innovation

Goal Number One of the United Nations SDGs is to end poverty in all forms. This includes building the resilience of the poor and those in vulnerable situations. Manmohan Singh once said that “India happens to be a very rich country inhabited by very poor people” and a lot of these people are found in the sector that contributes largest to the Indian GDP, namely, agriculture.

The company was the first in India to start the use of 100% Organic, Fair trade cotton in the making of their clothing. Fair Trade is a practise that stands for transforming the way trade work. It implies that farmers receive a price that at the least covers their cost of production plus a little extra money to invest in their farms. Moreover, farmers commit to the ecologically sound practise of producing Organic Cotton– it uses no fertilizers and pesticides or GM seeds; it retains water efficiently due to increased organic matter in the soil and conserves soil through crop rotation. When you think about it, the initiative fulfils another goal of the UN SDGs – ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns.

Additionally, the company has also started an initiative called “Once Upon a Doug” which is a cloud, hand-made by cotton farming women in India from scraps of recycled cotton. As Ayesha put it "the initiative has added an income of Rs 3000 per month to a number of farming women who only earned a meagre Rs 18,000 annually."

Inspiration

It is said that every thirty minutes, a farmer commits suicide in India - poverty being the root cause of it. If one does the math, over the past 15 years 300,000 farmers have taken their lives due to an inability to provide their families with bread and butter to sustain themselves. Mr. Apurva Kothari and Shweta Deliwala, the people behind No Nasties decided that he ought to do something about it. As stated simply by him, "the goal was always to create a conscious movement for ethical fashion and create awareness of the farmer's suicides issue."

His idea stemmed from two important facts: firstly, 25% of the world’s chemical fertilizers are used by the cotton industry; and secondly and more importantly, farmers have to bear huge loans to buy fertilizers and build up debt when their crop fails, often due to weakening of the soil over years of using harmful pesticides.

Apurva conceptualized a T-shirt brand build on Fair Trade and Organic Cotton to support the lives of farmers in Vidarbha Region which was once known as the cotton belt but is now widely popular as the 'suicide belt of India'.

Overall impact

“Changes call for innovation, and innovation leads to progress “- Li Keqiang

No Nasties innovation certainly has an obvious impact on the lives of farmers, the society and environment.

IMPACT ON THE LIVES OF FARMERS: No Nasties is one of the few Indian brands who buy cotton just from fair trade. Fair trade provides minimum price which covers the costs of production and provides a sustainable livelihood for cotton producers. Farmers are guaranteed a minimum purchase price and a fair trade premium (15-20%) which goes towards community development. All this money goes directly back to the farmers who can utilize it in any manner they like - many of them have chosen to invest in education, equipment, hospitals, ware-houses, new irrigation technology, computer technology etc. Additionally, the company makes sure that no children are employed in their operations.

It is very difficult to gauge the impact on the plight of farmers and the government’s definition of farmer itself is unclear. For example women are not classified as farmers.

IMPACT ON THE SOCIETY: What No Nasties intends to do in India is create a movement by sharing the supply chain information - people know where the cotton and the products come from. The initiative has led to large scale awareness of the plight of farmers and many consumers have become advocates for ethical sustainable fashion because according to Apurva, "when one believes in the cause it becomes very easy to contribute by just making a small purchase"

Apurva hopes that other company's will follow suit and, "that it would create more demand for organic cotton and in turn help the farmers." In fact, many company's have already followed No Nasties in their practise of using Organic and Fair Trade cotton. Moreover, Fair Trade India also started a few years ago and as well as a movement to capture consumer awareness over the crisis.

IMPACT ON THE ENVIRONMENT: Over all, the health and quality of life is better just by going organic and not using toxic pesticides and chemicals. the use of natural pesticides & fertilizers ensures low levels of soil degradation which will be beneficial for farming. Organic matter in the soil helps to retains water more efficiently in the soil. Furthermore, the non-usage of synthetic pesticides and GMOs has led to green & organic farm. As they got processed at factories that are governed by sustainability norms it eventually led to Clean & Fair Factory which keeps our environment clean.

In the long run, the overall impact of minor changes in the value chain will have a significant impact on the society by increasing the wages and the standard of living of the farmers so that they live happier lives; creating an environmentally healthier community and a nicer planet for all of us.

Business benefit

As a business, what No Nasties found was that sustainability is a great talking point. The company started of with a particular intention in mind and therefore the ethical practise of using organic and fair trade cotton formed a part of their DNA but over the years they found that these tags which are so engraved in their brand have been a great way to have a unique selling point that stands out from amongst the crowd of fashion brands. While in other brands the things talked about are design, fabric, prints, softness of clothing; No Nasties provides all this - a high quality product - with the guarantee that it is made in a sustainable manner. This has helped them in conversation, public relations, in marketing and most importantly, engage consumers and talk about ethical sustainable fashion. It has certainly helped the brands to move up the differentiation ladder in this dynamic market by being a brand that makes a difference in the society.

The supply chain of No Nasties is simplified by the fact that they do not buy fabric from the open market but they have one dedicated farmer's cooperative (Chetna Organic) and one factory (Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills). They share a close relationship with both the people working for these entities. This ensures a transparency in the entire process and gives them a lot of control over where their products are coming from.

No Nasties has chosen to be a very niche brand - a small sustainable brand based out of Goa but known around the world - but has shipped to around 60 countries over the last few years. They do not intend on becoming a main-stream large conglomerate but to expand in their own space and remain a brand with its soul intact.

No Nasties is a small family run business operating out of an old Portuguese house in Assagao. The team is very small and currently has only 8 employees (doubled since December 2017). Their focus is the happiness of their employees which is clearly visible from the way they interact with one another. Speaking from the heart, Apurva said "the idea is to create an environment that is supportive, caring and respectful. It is not about just doing the job but enjoying what you do." They provide flexible work hours, holidays and a good working environment.

The average amount charged to a customer for a garment being 1500 INR. The target customers have kids, women and men with product ranging from bag packs to garments. Though Apurva chose not to reveal the revenues raised by his innovation he said that the company is doing very well.

Social and environmental benefit

Aside from the impacts enumerated above, the innovation has had a great impact on the way the consumers and those aware of No Nasties products view fashion. It is a step towards conscious capitalism, being that it is a business that has a purpose higher than just making a profit.

Environmentally, their farms are rain-fed & there are no toxic pesticides & fertilisers used. There are no heavy metals in their azo-free dyes & plastisol-free inks. No Nasties use organic cloth bags for packaging and their paper hang-tags are made of up-cycled organic cotton fabric waste. Their shipping boxes are made of recycled cardboard. While doing all this, they still incur an ecological cost:

Production - All goods, even sustainable goods, have an ecological footprint.

Packing – Even though they don’t use plastics, cardboard and paper leads to deforestation

Shipping – With 1545 orders shipped to 61 different countries, the transport causes a lot of damage

Keeping all this in mind, No Nasties came up with an idea called the ‘No Nasties Grove’. The No Nasties Grove is an area that will have a tree planted each time someone does business with them. They plant a tree for every online product sold, every new email signup and actually, every single day the business is running. As of July 2018, 4207 trees have been planted in the No Nasties Grove .

They also keep the costumer in loop. Every single customer who has contributed to planting a tree receives an email from Grow-Trees, a partner of No Nasties, to confirm that a tree has indeed been planted on their behalf.

Interviews

Mr. Apurva Kothari, Founder

Ayesha Pradhan, Designer, No Nasties Kid's Clothing Line