Project Khwab is an initiative of Enactus Ramjas aimed towards creating sustainable alternatives to plastic-based products and creating a culture of sustainable consumption.
Enactus Ramjas is a student-run not-for-profit organization established in 2011 that has taken up 10 such projects and has impacted more than 1 million lives. It takes up community outreach projects to transform the lives of people in need and shape a better world using the power of entrepreneurial action. Some of their projects have been acclaimed at the national level for their potential to improve lives.
Project Khwab was initiated in 2020 amidst the global pandemic with the ‘khwab’ (dream) for a better planet, a planet without plastic, and with a heart for the environment. It hopes to transform the consumption habits for self-care products and create an acceptable, sustainable, and affordable lifestyle. This project is a small step towards the bigger mission of creating a cleaner and healthier planet for our future generations.
The project through its fundamentals and working checks off six of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) – 6. Clean Water and Sanitation, 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth, 10. Reduced Inequalities, 12. Responsible Consumption and Production, 14. Life below water, 13. Climate Action.
Khwab has been working on two types of solutions – an upstream solution and a downstream solution. Under the upstream solution, Khwab has worked towards restricting single-use plastics from entering the circular economy. With an eco-friendly and plastic-free product line of self-care products, Khwab has reduced the plastic entering the economy significantly. Products are manufactured by their beneficiaries – a group of specially-abled individuals, thus through the production process, it has also helped in creating employment opportunities and making a difference in the lives of the beneficiaries.
The project has developed three products – Shampoo Bars, Conditioners, Soap Tablets. In the near future, Khwab plans to diversify into different self-care products like face wash, bath bombs, bath salts, etc. We are also exploring different sales and distribution channels, both B2B and B2C so that we can target a greater portion of the consumer market. The downstream solution is our latest avenue and under this, we aim to reduce the existing plastic and recycle it into sustainable materials which can be used in further production, packaging, or direct consumer sales. This prospective solution has twofold benefits. The first is that it eliminates the existing plastics in the environment and reduces the plastic waste which otherwise would take a very long to decompose. The second is that the plastic is recycled into materials that replace plastics in the production and selling process.
Via this avenue, Khwab hopes to fight the menace of plastic pollution and try to further the agenda of sustainability and responsible consumption.
Khwab in the short time since its inception has gained some significant recognition. Top 12 Global Finalists at Race to Rethink Plastic and 1 Race 4 Oceans Competition among 176+ social projects from 23 countries across the world.
All in all, Project Khwab is one small yet significant step towards everyone’s dream for a better planet, a healthier plastic-free planet with people who understand and actively work on sustainable consumption and production practices.