What happens if you happen to be the daughter of a leading sustainable fashion designer? Well, it’s most likely you might end up following their path right? This is one of many reasons behind 16-year-old Preity Doshi’s dive to start, ‘The Unwanted’, a small-scale, zero-waste, biodegradable product brand. Daughter of Purvi Doshi – a designer who is an advocate on promoting sustainable fashion – Preity’s brand generates employment among the underprivileged from various slums. In an email interview with News Today, the teenager speaks about her work and why sustainability matters more than ever.
Excerpts from the interview
1) Tell us about your initiative
The Unwanted is a small-scale startup dealing in biodegradable products with main raw material being textile waste. It’s the journey from being unwanted to wanted. It is a zero-waste product brand. We generate employment among the underprivileged from various slums. About a month ago I started this initiative. Since childhood, I have frequented my mother’s boutique but was always oblivious to all the cloth waste around me. It wasn’t until this summer that I started noticing and decided to do my bit for the earth.
2) How do you recycle and make your final product?
The waste we use is sourced from different boutiques, fashion houses, tailors, and production houses. The products we make are not exactly recycled, there is no fixed process. It is actually up-cycling and reusing old/discarded clothes of any shape and size. Basically, all textile waste is our raw material. We have set up some production units in various slums in Ahmedabad where we give the underprivileged training for production of different products. There they stitch the dusting cloth. Instead of the plastic pipe, we use a bamboo stick for the duster which is bought from old city. For tying the cloth to the stick, we give it to another set of people. Then a finishing check is done and the duster is ready.
3) Where do you find ideas while working?
At the beginning of summer this year, I was interning at a place where I had to research about sustainability, recycling, up-cycling, etc. that is where I became more aware and took an interest in this cause. After that, all of it just came to me. Of course, we did have a few brainstorming sessions but now when I look at anything around me, I can see it made out of waste.
4) Why it is important to adopt eco-friendly and sustainable fashion?
Waste management is the future! We can’t afford to produce more. We need to create products out of waste to make sure we don’t create more landfills. Eco-friendly and sustainable fashion ensures existence of fashion or for that matter the existence of choice in future. More importantly, it is a step towards preserving our home
5) Offer some simple steps people can do to consume more environmental-friendly products
A few steps include checking before buying if the product is eco-friendly/biodegradable, abstain from buying any sort of plastics, separate waste from your home in categories like paper and dry waste, plastics, e-waste, etc., and composting waste in your house itself.
6) Tips for budding entrepreneurs who wish to enter eco-segment?
Business is finding solutions to problems you face in your daily life. Now think of the solution, keeping in mind the parameters of eco-friendly/sustainable development. Another tip would definitely be to grab as many opportunities you can and follow your intuition.
(Visit her website www.theunwanted.org)