Back to the basics

Juhu-based sound engineer and scuba diver Tilak Goswami and his wife, Supriya Sarin, an advertising professional, know that it's ambitious to want to live the organic life. "The switch takes time and is difficult. You can't eliminate eating out all the time, or in times of need or unavailability, you may have to buy processed food. It's all about adapting," shares Goswami. It is with this sustainable approach that the couple started their organic store, Vnya, in Juhu last month, offering all kinds of natural products that cater to personal care, oils, probiotics, pets, vegetables, dairy, superfoods, cleaning, and snacks, among other essentials.

Sarin, however, insists that it's not just about selling organic produce; they hope to contribute in making little differences to people's habits. One of the simple ways they devised, inspired by old kirana stores, is to promote grocery refilling, as opposed to buying it packaged. The 35-year-olds tell us that the idea sparked off as they struggled with logistics to make theirs a zero-waste store. "So, we got glass jars to store the grains, pulses, flours, etc. We encourage people to bring their dabbas along, and refill the same with the product. We don't put a limit on how much you want to fill. They can also take our jar, pay a deposit, and bring it back later," explains Goswami, adding they have a small compost pit, reuse old packaging to deliver online orders, and upcycle everything to minimise waste as far as possible.