Nitika Sonkhiya quit her corporate job to start ‘MyOnEarth’, a sustainable alternative store that provides eco-friendly alternatives for daily use products made of plastic.
Her startup, which is based out in Delhi, offers a wide range of products which are made from only three ingredients – bamboo, coconut coir, and coconut shell.
Nitika says that the main difficulty which people face is that they don’t get enough options in the marketplace at reasonable prices to adopt it in their lifestyle.
The raw material required for manufacturing is collected from farm waste. In this way, even the waste produced could be utilized for various purposes.
Its range includes kitchen and home décor, personal care, travel, fashion, and stationery. The products are cutlery made from coconut shells, bamboo toothbrush and other dental hygiene products, plantable seed pencil, among others.
The products are sold through the startup’s website and in selected stores which are only focused on sustainable brands.
Apart from producing sustainable products, the venture has also created opportunities for women artisans in rural India. To empower rural women and provide them jobs, Nitika has partnered with a Jaipur-based NGO that works with local women.
Through the partnership, she has employed nearly 50 artisans working on design and handicrafts for MyOnEarth. Even though the pandemic affected the operations of most businesses, this startup managed to increase its total revenue.
At present, the startup is focusing to expand in metropolitan cities. Nitika feels that the eco-friendly market in India still stands at a very nascent stage and it is disorganised at the moment.
According to her, such products should be available in local stores so that more people could easily buy it instead of making an online purchase.
Since the inception of her venture, her focus is on making eco-friendly products accessible. She says affordability of eco-friendly products is important so that sustainable living is not limited to a particular segment of society.
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