Can zero-waste be a reality? Environmentalist and entrepreneur Sahar Mansoor thinks so

The founder of Bare Necessities gets candid about her journey towards living a zero-waste life and building a company around it

Subconsciously, I have been an environmentalist since I was a little girl. Growing up in Bengaluru, my love for nature was fostered by spending weekends in Cubbon Park with my father and sisters, climbing trees, going on road trips, jumping into waterfalls, swimming by the beach, early morning walks and soaking in sunsets and sunrises. Having lost my father at a young age, being surrounded by nature was one way of remembering him.

In 2012, when I was in my third year of college, I watched a video of Bea Johnson—a Franco-American author, speaker and promoter of zero-waste lifestyle—in my class on World Religions and Ecology. While I was blown away by Johnson’s lifestyle, I remember conclusively dismissing it too. How could I have possibly lived a zero-waste lifestyle while juggling three jobs, maintaining grades for my scholarship, having a fun social life and exploring a new city I came to call home? Nevertheless, the course served as a turning point in my environmental journey–it left me wanting to learn more. I added ‘environmental planning’ as my second major and took some classes in environmental engineering and environmental ethics and policy. This nudged me to think deeper about our trash problem. It made me realise that we are subjects of an urbanisation-globalisation era, coupled with being caught in a web of convenience. Owing to these factors, we attribute personal trash to a larger global problem we have no control over.

From trash to zero-waste

It takes trash to stink up our neighbourhood for us to think about trash. We don’t think about plastic that we use for five minutes, which then takes 700 years to start decomposing, which, in the process, leeches harmful chemicals into our soil and water–the same soil you are consuming your fresh vegetables from. My Cambridge and WHO (World Health Organisation) perspectives taught me that waste was an environmental issue. However, moving back home made me acknowledge that waste is a social justice issue as well.

I moved back to Bengaluru in 2015 and worked at a solar energy social enterprise for solar energy called SELCO Foundation. I was working with a community from West Bengal, who were waste-pickers. Every day thousands of waste-pickers segregate broken glass, sanitary napkins and needles, all with their bare hands. I wanted to stop being a part of the problem. My solution was to live a lifestyle that best reflects the values I cared about. While I called myself an environmentalist and had studied the subjects, I needed to live a life more congruent to my environmental and social justice values.

When I started off, my grandmother became my ready-reckoner. How did my grandma wash her hair before shampoo came to be sold in plastic bottles? Many Indian traditions are rooted in ecological practices, now known as ‘zero-waste practices’. Working at SELCO Foundation gave me the opportunity to interact with people from rural India, whose practices are so traditionally rooted in zero-waste. They grow and eat their food, there’s a shared intimacy with what they eat and they are so mindful of their choices.

Birthing of an entrepreneurial idea

I started taking my first few steps towards a zero-waste life in April 2015. The transition was incremental. When I ran out of soap, I learnt how to make my own, instead of buying store-bought ones. However, I still do not lead a completely zero-waste lifestyle–and I doubt I will ever be. It is good to know your boundaries. In my zero-waste journey, I realised we lived in a world with landfill-destined products. Around 4.7 billion toothbrushes end up in landfills every year, and take 200-700 years to start decomposing. So every toothbrush you and I have ever used is sitting on our planet somewhere.

In response to this problem, I wanted to create a company that mirrored the values of zero-waste, ethical consumption and sustainability. I wanted to make it easy and accessible for other people looking to consume more mindfully and to encourage others to generate less waste. Thus, Bare Necessities was born. It’s not just about selling products, it’s about encouraging an earth-friendly lifestyle. To do so, we produce everyday essentials such as soaps, dish-washing and hand-washing powders, and toothpastes and toothbrushes which in no way fuel the waste epidemic. Our products are made from natural materials and ingredients. We use recyclable, reusable and biodegradable packaging such as glass jars, recycled cardboard and paper tape. We ethically source from local farmers and vendors.

Along the way, I also wanted to create alternative employment opportunities for women. So at Bare Necessities, we put together a women-run manufacturing team, whom we train and upskill in not only production and packaging skills, but also enable language skills, computer skills and sustainability awareness among others. Additionally, we offer formalised medical insurance and scholarships to their families. Ideally, Bare Necessities–through the people it hired–had to be an enterprise that mirrored social justice, environmental justice and equity.

Kitchen experiments gone right

When we first started, my mum’s kitchen became my laboratory as I was making all my products from there. I was selling them at various pop-up exhibitions and flea markets. The first cohort of customers were super generous with their feedback and suggestions, which became the test pad for all the products. Soon, a manufacturing facility was created in the backyard of my house. We are currently fully bootstrapped, retailing in 50 stores across 10 states across India and serving over 30,000 customers.

During these customer interactions, I would share tips about how to make the products. I realised I could do talks, workshops and teach everyone about the environmental, social justice and health aspects associated with our waste problem. So my strategy was to build the brand through human connection. Along with our products, we offer services such as talks, workshops and online courses, all built around the idea of sustainability.

Kickstarting your zero-waste journey

A zero-waste lifestyle cannot be achieved overnight. Instead, a more sustainable way to go about this path is to set realistic goals and gradually work towards it. For instance, start with going zero-waste in a few aspects in your life. Small swaps such as moving towards a metal straw or a bamboo toothbrush or a menstrual cup, make a difference. Taking baby steps can help make the process simple and less daunting. If you seek to create impact by changing mindsets on waste in India and beyond, it’s easier if people can relate to your entire journey rather than just the brand. I think it’s important for me to candidly share my lessons, learnings, findings and failures along the way so that others don’t make the same mistakes that I did or still do.

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