Our love for a sustainable existence is no secret, and so on Valentine’s day 2021, we asked our planet to be our Valentine.

However, talking about saving the Earth versus actually implementing changes in real life to tackle the problems that affect the planet, are like night and day.

On that note, we’d like to introduce you to the people who celebrated a #SustainableLove & those who celebrate their love for sustainability, by taking conscious efforts every single day.

Meet Nitika Sonkhiya – The Sustainable Entrepreneur.

The young founder of ‘MyOnEarth’ started her sustainable brand after turning a lifestyle into a passion!
Her #SustainableLove story began early in life where she saw the frugal & quite efficient use of water in her own household.

Here’s what Nitika had to say about her journey:

“Especially middle-class families are more prone to using their resources more sufficiently, and that has been my lifestyle from the start”, recollects Nitika.

She launched her company MyOnEarth, with a belief in the concept of ‘waste-to-wealth’, which came from the fact that resources like bamboo, coconut shells and coir are all wasted by-products which our business recycles into sustainable products.

Another issue that she recognised was the lack of availability of affordable sustainable products in the market. So she decided to help people switch to a green lifestyle through small changes such as switching to an affordably priced bamboo toothbrush, which her company brought into the market.

Nitika also shared her thoughts on our green mobility commute – “I really like the concept of Yulu – using e-bikes to help make commuting easier and sustainable. It’s especially useful in metropolitan cities which have high pollution levels and traffic congestion. It’s an easy option to use around metros and doesn’t cause the hassle of carrying around your vehicle, because you can drop it off at another zone.”

“Adopting a sustainable lifestyle isn’t easy and living a 100% sustainable lifestyle isn’t possible in the current scenario, but it can certainly happen over time”, the sustainable entrepreneur concludes.

The Couple Who Took Green Vows – Meet Deepa Kamath & Prashin Jagger

Deepa & Prashin a Mumbai-based couple shared a #SustainableLove as deep as their own, which translated into their plastic-free #Down2EarthWedding & sustainable lifestyle.

“Our passion turned into a profession as photographers, was how we saw the damage first hand. We saw the amount of waste that was generated in weddings and so we wanted to stick with a simple court marriage for ourselves”, says Prashin.

However owing to family pressure, they decided to hold a ceremony, but with a twist of their own.

They pulled off a plastic-free wedding ceremony using recycled products. In fact, even their proposal was eco-friendly, owing to the hand-crafted engagement rings made from repurposed Guitar wood!

By keeping the food minimal, shopping local, using seasonal flowers for decoration, they truly managed to successfully conduct a wedding ceremony close to the earth.

“Naturally, we fell in love with the green mobility Yulu bikes. Whenever we visit Belapur in Navi Mumbai, it has become a ritual for us to ride around the city centre on Yulu bikes with a friend of ours. We definitely consider switching to Yulu for our daily commute”, says the sustainable couple with beaming smiles.

Living Green – Tips by the Sustainables!

Deepa, Prashin & Nitika show us the impact an individual’s conscious choices can have.
We applaud their move to switch to a lifestyle which minimises their carbon footprint, making way for others to live in harmony with our planet. Here are a couple of tips from them for one to make a sustainable lifestyle switch:

How to get started? Nitika gets Candid

• Start small – Switch to reusable products that are affordable, like bamboo toothbrushes, steel straws & utensils as opposed to their unsustainable variants.

• Reuse by-products: Instead of throwing them out, restructure the by-products in other aspects of your life. 

How To Love Sustainably – Prashin & Deepa’s Tips

• Repurpose products – Setting up a small-scale biogas plant & making bio-enzymes for cleaning purposes.
• Long-term shopping – Even while buying furniture, we saw an option to get refurbished furniture made using recycled materials. Test for quality & buy those for your long-term needs.
• Shop local – Rather than relying on retail franchises, choose your local vendors because they can afford to be sustainable since their products/services can have a shorter expiration date.

Here’s How Yulu Celebrated #SustainableLove

Our #SustainableLove story didn’t end there! We couldn’t have sustained and prospered as an eco-friendly ecosystem without the contribution from our users.

We shared our love with our users by offering free demo rides at Church street, which drew the attention of all those who celebrated love.

With all these efforts to help people switch to a green commute, we just have one unconventional message for our valentine,
“Dear Earth, we’ll strive our best to ensure that you don’t take our breath away. We hope you understand.” – Love, Yulu.