Top Ecofriendly Indian brands and why you should buy from them

“We can sit back, do nothing and watch our planet be destroyed. Or we can take action, become advocates and start making lifestyle choices that are kinder to people and the planet”– Kira Simpson

With environmental issues like climate change, pollution and deforestation rapidly impacting our earth, there has never been a more important time to educate ourselves and become further collectively aware of how we- as consumers, businesses and individuals leave an impact on our environment. It must be every human beings responsibility to understand the need of the hour and oblige to being well-informed and thoughtful in the way that they choose to treat their environment. More often than not, we forget how impactful our actions can be, especially when it leads to destructing our planet. From using excessive plastic to chemicals and agricultural waste, it builds up over time and causes drastic changes to our ecosystem.

Which is why, it is important now more than ever, to make informed choices and understand how we can replenish and save our environment, by consciously taking small steps in the right direction and replacing old practices with sustainable alternatives.

Let’s begin with understanding, what is Eco-friendly?

In simple terms, any commodity that is not harmful to the environment through its materials, production and consumption, is known to be eco-friendly.  So a brand that claims to be eco-friendly basically ensures that at no point in their product cycle are they using or practicing anything that could be destructive or potently harmful to the environment. This means choosing everything from materials, to packaging to promotion has to be either recyclable, renewable or bio-degradable and in no way destructive to the environment. For example, in order to produce one cotton t-shirt, it requires 10,000 litres of fresh water. Depleting such a large amount of water on a single piece of clothing is extremely harmful for our environment, which is why a better alternative to using cotton is to replace it with non-hazardous materials such as hemp, flax, bamboo or allied fibres.

Eco-friendly and Businesses

It is important to understand the reason as to how businesses integrate with the environment along with the importance of maintaining strategies and practices that are safe but benefit the service you are providing. More and more businesses today have started inculcating sustainable policies in order to fulfil socio-economic responsibilities and simultaneously grow a consumer conscious entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Over the last decade, we have seen a drastic change in the way Indian businesses approach the entrepreneurial market and it truly marks the beginning of ethical partnerships and consumerism. What sets each brand apart in terms of renewability is that, every brand offers to be a part of this shift differently, depending on the service they provide. Some brands claim to be animal friendly, eco-friendly or sustainable, while others believe in giving back to the community, working with environmental organisations and so on. While most of these brands may be modest in scale, they are big in their vision of changing society and setting a positive example on the importance of renewability and its impact on our environment.

In the last five years, India has seen a major shift in the way ethical brands are portrayed and also in how consumers perceive them. These brands are marketed through commercial and social media platforms that has led them to connect with a whole new range of diverse audiences.

Here’s a list of the most renowned Eco-friendly brands in India and why they stand out from the rest:

1. Ekaya

Ekaya is a contemporary clothing label originally founded in New Delhi that has now found its roots in Mumbai and Hyderabad, known for its aesthetic blend of modern and traditional aspects of the Indian heritage. The idea behind the evolution of the brand was to represent the finest works of Banarasi Art and bring it to the forefront from a craftsman’s perspective. They specialise in putting a spin on traditional wear by incorporating modern designs and bringing the two in unison.

“All their products are hand-made and woven by local artisans from Banaras, ensuring empowerment of over 8000 artisans and weavers from across the country. They also only use 100% fair trade certified cotton in order to reduce any harmful impact on the environment.”

The brands vision is to change the manner in which handloom textiles are sold and presented in India. It is one of the first brands to incorporate the collaboration model between weavers and designers, which helped build traditional textile as a luxury commodity.

2. Nicobar

Founded in 2016 by duo Simran Lal and Raul Rai, Nicobar is a home-grown lifestyle and luxury brand, specialising in home décor and fashion. The brand initiated its headquarters in New Delhi and has gradually moved to inaugurating several stores all across the country, in a short span of under four years.

Their collection can be described as a unique take on traditional Indian designs with a pop of natural elements to it- like marble or wood. They formulate concepts and designs by bringing together old world charms that have been around for centuries and aesthetically integrate those with modern techniques. For instance, most of their handloom fabrics are printed using natural dyes as opposed chemical ones. They are also mindful of the materials used in creating clothing- utilising only local linen, silk and cotton in order to produce beautiful décor and fashion pieces.

“The brand also believes in the power of collaboration and has partnered with ‘Grow the trees’ foundation, which not just aims towards protecting the habitat of the Sundarbans but also plant more trees and provide livelihood opportunities to landless communities. So far, owing to this collaboration Nicobar has managed to be a medium and plant over 2000 trees.”

Nicobar ensures 85% plastic free packaging and are aiming towards a future where they can completely eradicate its consumption and be completely plastic free. They have also replaced synthetic cotton with pure organic cotton for their entire core range.

They brought their vision to life by creating products that catered to a reflection of our local history but simultaneously had a global appeal.

3. Suta Bombay

Suta is a maker of simple, handwoven clothing using humble designs and simple fabrics, made with love by local artisans. It was co-founded in 2016, by sisters Sujata and Tania (Su and Ta translating to ‘threads’) as a result of their childhood memories of extreme fondness and love for sarees. Their intention with developing the brand was to redefine saree designs, bring back simplistic and artistic prints and empower the local craftsmen- as they believe it is the artisans who bring their work to life and put their exemplary skills into creating the most beautiful sarees. Their brand stands as a token for keeping the undying spirit of artistry alive and honouring every individual who contributes to breathing life into a conceptualised design.

“Most of their fabrics are weaved and sourced from the quaint villages of India- ranging from Assam, Meghalaya, Bengal and Madhya Pradesh to Kerala. They work with artisans or Suta magicians as they address them, from all around the country and make them part of the Suta family. Since the beginning, they have ensured to only use local and sustainable fabrics to create these pieces. It is important to them that their clothing not only looks good, but is also not damaging the environment.”

From a team of two, to a growing team of 20, Suta has grown in its presence by leaps and bounds. In less than a span of 3 months from being a start-up brand- Suta Bombay’s presence grew over 26 times on social media. Their pictures on Instagram and Facebook have found a niche of their own and have come to be known for its unique, quirky and bold designs. They also live by the belief that customer feedback is the most essential to them and lovingly address them as ‘Suta Queens’.

4. Okhai

Okhai is a lifestyle, home décor and accessories brand that creates products that are handmade by talented rural artisans, who skilfully create exquisite designs which are unique to our culture and heritage. They offer rationally priced products with modern designs that reflect simplicity and creativity through their aesthetic.

Okhai products represent rural India by using patchwork, mirrorwork and embroidery as a representative of the rural way of life, their culture and legends.

“The brands mission is to employ and empower the rural women of India to learn new skills and use them efficiently in order to seek greater self-confidence and belief in their abilities. This broadens their horizons and lets them carry their efforts and talents into a wider world.”

With the massive support of Tata Chemicals Society for Rural Development, numerous self-help groups have been formed in the village of Okhamandal, where members are trained in modern handicraft production. So far, over 2300 families are benefitting from this and are thereby able to work at their own pace, from the comforts of their homes. 

5. Anokhi

Anokhi is a Jaipur based brand catering to Indian textiles and designs. They have been in the business for over 40 years and continue to provide exquisite Indian wear, while ensuring the safety of our environment. The brand’s central focus is to build an open and honest communication course with their craftsmen and involve them in their creativity process.

“Their designs are known for its revolutionary hand-block prints, which are made using vegetable colours known to be one of the oldest and natural colouring techniques. They have also introduced embroidery, patchwork and bead work as their significant style which has gained huge popularity over the years.”

They continue to provide employment to artisans from various backgrounds and are considered to be one of the oldest eco-friendly clothing brands in India.

6. Ruby’s Organics

India’s first organic and clean beauty brand, Ruby’s organics was founded by Rubeina Karachiwalla with the intent to develop a makeup range that is made using natural and chemical free ingredients, resulting in safe and nourished skin. The entire range is infused with bio-active ingredients to ensure that it adds value to your skin and shows visible improvement in texture.

All the products are sourced and manufactured locally, also ensuring employment towards women in rural areas, so that they have the freedom and independence to shape their lives.

“Toxic chemicals are replaced by natural ingredients like Shea butter, eucalyptus oil and beeswax and are infused with a blend of natural colouring in order to bring pigment to their products. It claims to be skin-care at the core that is tinted with colour, which makes your skin look good on the outside and feel nourished and replenished on the inside.”

They launched a wide variety of lipstick and foundation shades that were specifically made to compliment and match Indian skin tones. These are made with ingredients that do not clog your pores but keeps your skin natural looking and radiant.

7. Chola- The label

Chola, is an affordable luxury apparel brand that was founded as an experiment in 2015 and gradually grew into an online business. The brand stands as a visual representation of daily wear clothing personified with comfort, ease and style.  Sohaya Misra, the founder of Chola, believes in maintaining the integrity of the fabric and following a minimalistic ideology when it comes to designing clothes.

 “As part of the sustainable fashion initiative in 2017, Chola also created a complete range of clothing from recycled materials that was showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week. They also eradicated use of industrial cotton and only use recycled cotton by free cutting methodologies to create garments. These methods ensure minimum wastage and refrains from depleting the environment and its resources in the long run.”

Every collection that they launch has a deep story behind it and their clothes hold testament to the fact that they truly abide by the brand ideology by maintaining clean cuts, simple silhouettes and using comfortable fabrics. The designs are complimentary to each other and allow layering in many different ways which gives consumers the added freedom to be creative with their purchases.

8. Good Earth

One of the most popular sustainable luxury apparel and home décor brands in India, Good Earth was founded by Anita Lal in 1996 as a result of wanting to build a bridge between Indian potters and urban consumers in order to collectively create contemporary designs with an Indian aesthetic. They initiated their first ever boutique in Kemps corner, Mumbai in the 1996 and have ever since expanded to multiple cities all across the country.

“From using hand-made block printed fabrics to creating the infamous bamboo towels- the brand has ventured into green branding and eco-friendly products over the years in many ways. The brands philosophy stands for providing sustainable products, sustaining the planet and sustaining livelihood. They stay connected to their brand story through the choices they make in terms of products, materials and packaging. Since then, they have set out to sustainable clothing, home décor, furniture, bed and bath and kids apparel.”

The apparel collection represents timeless, classic and vintage styles combined with Indian traditions and culture. They have also created a signature line of wallpapers to celebrate the silk route exclusively for one of India’s oldest paint companies. They ensure completely plastic-free, sustainable packaging and are continuously on the lookout to make improvements to their products and materials used.

9. Ellementry Home

A home-grown hand-crafted sustainable brand, bringing minimalistic designs and desirable necessities together. Founder and designer, Ayush Baid says that his story behind initiating the brand was to amalgamate designs found in nature with daily essential commodities.

“The creative process of designing these products lies in observing the environment and expressing love for it using modern creation techniques. The brand is popular for its handmade kitchenware, tableware, and décor and lighting.”

Through exploring new design models and concepts they provide opportunities to thousands of artisans, who bring their skill towards creating the most beautiful and natural products. Concern and mindfulness for our environment lies at the heart of their design process.

10. Organic Riot

Organic Riot is a all-natural, clean, sustainable and eco-friendly skincare brand, launched in 2019 by Siddharth Somaiya. The intention behind developing a range of safe skincare products was to inform and educate people about natural ingredients and what it can do for your skin. Products with harmful toxins are relatively damaging to the skin for the long run. Organic riot has formulated products using the highest quality of natural ingredients that are sourced locally and work on your skin in the gentlest manner.

“Each tube that they produce out of recycled paper, saves about 850ml of water. Also, Organic Riot is India’s very first 100% cruelty free and vegetarian skin care brand. They stand completely against animal testing and believe animals are as important to the environment as we are. They also use packaging made out of BPA-free plastic and believe in providing world-class luxury skincare that is devoid of any form of harsh ingredients.”

Every ingredient used is deeply researched and looked into by the development team, before being incorporated into the products. They completely refrain from chemical processing in order to reduce toxic load on the body.