Is plastic-neutral a thing?
5 Indian brands that are plastic-neutral.
Hello, hello!
You must have encountered plastic-neutral written on brand labels and wondered if brands are truly plastic-neutral or how they make a difference.
What does plastic-neutral mean? And do brands mean when they're plastic-free when they’re plastic-neutral? 🤔
Nope, they’re not free from plastic.
Plastic-neutral brands are those that contribute to plastic recovery from the environment based on their production. For instance, if a brand makes products using 100kg of plastic in a year, it recovers 100kg of plastic from the environment by funding organisations that remove and recycle plastic.
In short, brands are still producing plastic, but they’re doing something for waste.
Is plastic-neutral good?
There’s no straightforward answer to this although it does make a difference in many ways.
Tamara Davison, a journalist who covers sustainability, says, “Plastic neutrality is not a silver bullet, but it encourages businesses to think long-term about their products' impacts. It also helps businesses align with extended producer responsibility (EPR) policies, a type of environmental initiative gathering traction in various countries. EPR dictates that businesses are responsible for the end-of-life waste their products produce, even if they pass it on to consumers first. So, plastic neutrality demonstrates brands are taking that into account.”
👉 Read this post for more.
Now, onto the mains. 👇
5 Plastic-Neutral Indian Brands
Vanity Wagon
Vanity Wagon is a certified plastic-neutral marketplace, and if you’ve shopped from them, you must have seen how their packaging is. It comes in a plastic-free box and packaging with products wrapped in paper. Because it’s a marketplace, they curate an excellent range of skincare, haircare and wellness brands, including Korean Beauty brands.
Slurrp Farm
Saying I love Slurrp Farm’s stuff would be a grave understatement! Slurrp is a plastic-neutral brand that makes cereals, pancakes (OMG!) and dosa mixes, natural sweeteners, snacks, noodles and pasta. They also offer various trial packs that let you sample most of their products before buying full-size stuff, so I recommend checking those out.
Conscious Chemist
Conscious Chemist is a skincare brand, and as the name suggests, they formulate a science-backed skincare range with consciousness. So, yes, you'll find chemicals in their products, but they're cruelty-free and safe chemicals.
The brand works with The Disposal Company (also certified by them) to recover plastic from the environment and allocates a portion of its sales to preserve and revitalise marine ecosystems. If I'm being honest, I tend to shop quite a bit from them because of their transparency and packaging.
Pluckk
Pluckk is a farm-to-door grocery and food delivery platform available in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore. It calls itself a digital lifestyle company that focuses on providing fresh food and produce. Pluckk has partnered with 1,000+ farms and sources produce daily that is also traceable.
Pluckk is India’s first plastic-neutral brand in the vegetables and fruits space, and has recovered around 6,000kg of low-value, non-recyclable plastic from entering landfills and oceans.
Pluckk is also sustainable in other ways through its delivery modes, zero waste, sustainable farming practices, and transparency.
Tea Trunk
If you love tea, the chances are that you’ve heard or shopped from Tea Trunk!
Their unmissable, beautiful packaging has a lot to do with this. But did you know they’re certified by The Disposal Company as plastic-neutral? For every gram of plastic that Tea Trunk sells, they facilitate the removal of a gram of plastic pollution. They intend to offer every purchase a net-zero plastic footprint.
If you’re planning to get some tea, their iced tea blends are worth grabbing.
So, that was my list of plastic-neutral Indian brands.
What did I miss? Will you shop from these brands? Leave a comment and let me know.