Chandni Khandelwal started Ecoloop last year to provide eco-friendly alternatives to plastic. The startup whose products are handmade makes a revenue of Rs 1-2 lakh per month.
Chandni Khandelwal, who was born in Odisha, says she has always been concerned about the use of plastics, particularly in packaging.
Chandni says when she was in college, she used to receive carry-out meals for lunch and dinner that were put in plastic bags. This has always troubled her, and Chandni has often wondered where these plastics would end up when we threw them out. After cleaning and drying them, she began putting them in my trolley bag. Chandni accumulated two trolleys full of plastic bags in two years. Instead of throwing them away, she turned them into planters and other household utility items.
This passion for the environment eventually led to her founding Ecoloop, a firm that focuses on eco-friendly packaging products.
According to Chandni, ‘eco’ refers to the environment, and ‘loop’ refers to the shape that finishes where it started.
Since its inception in September 2021, the firm has sold its items all throughout India, garnering a monthly revenue of Rs 1-2 lakh.
Chandni Khandelwal, a Bhubaneswar-based alumnus of the National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), says she has always been interested in arts and crafts.
Her mother, she continues, was the one who encouraged her to follow her hobbies.
“This opened a lot of doors for me, including the launch of my firm,” says Chandni, a fashion and lifestyle accessories designer.
Chandni had the opportunity to attend various craft clusters in Odisha while at NIFT, where students worked directly with native craftsmen who created things from natural materials.
She continues, “While working with local artists, I discovered a variety of natural crafting materials such as sabai grass, bamboo, and so on.
Ecoloop now creates gift wrapping out of natural materials such as sabai grass, palm leaves, paper mache, bamboo, and others.
The business manufactures over 20 different sorts of items, including baskets, trays, and boxes.”
We are creating a sustainable gifting experience from start to finish.
We’re also looking towards using rice straws instead of styrofoam boards in packing.
We’re making packaging for baked items like cakes and cookies out of bamboo and leaves “Chandni explains.
Sabai grass, a natural raw material primarily utilised in the production of paper pulp/rope, grows abundantly in Odisha and West Bengal.
This, according to Chandni, made it easier for her to find it and work with artisans who were familiar with the material.
She points out that the majority of Ecoloop’s products are created by artisan clusters spread over Odisha.
Chandni says, “I also collaborate with a few Kashmiri makers of paper mache items, as well as some from the Northeast who deal with bamboo products.”
“I now have over 500 artisans working for Ecoloop,” Chandni, who recently relocated to Delhi, says.
The craftspeople, who are mostly women, are specially trained to create Ecoloop packaging products.
“I’ve been educating a lot of artisan clusters, including sabai grass artists and traditional bamboo artisans from Sambalpur,” adds Chandni.
In Balasore, I organised a group of 15 women to make packaging.
They are now running their own business with the help of the government.
Ecoloop’s products are advertised through various social media channels, according to Chandni, who wants to build a website soon.
“We mostly reach out to clients through social media and have sold over 500 units of sustainable packaging around the country “she claims.
She continues, “Rs 20,000 was initially invested in Ecoloop, which now generates roughly Rs 1-2 lakh per month.”
Chandni claims that her husband, who owns an Agritech firm, has been instrumental in the development of Ecoloop as a brand and has always been a wonderful support to her.
When asked about her future ambitions, she answers, “We intend to open a store in Saket, Delhi, in the near future.
Currently, all of our products are handmade, and we intend to partially automate the enterprise to make them more cost-effective.
“”In the near future, we intend to investigate more natural raw materials, such as various sorts of leaves.”
