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Healing people and planet with natural solutions: PraanaPoorna story
By Ketul
Updated 27 Oct, 2024
10 min read
Contents
From a mother looking for solutions to her daughter’s severe eczema to a sustainability champion developing environmentally friendly personal care products, Smitha Kamath‘s journey as the founder of PraanaPoorna is amazing. With its distinctive dispersed production approach, PraanaPoorna, which has its roots in ancient knowledge and customs, has emerged as a symbol of sustainability and natural living, empowering communities.
The development of PraanaPoorna, Smitha’s personal and professional progress, and how her sustainability philosophy has influenced the company’s expansion are all covered in this story.
Early Life and the Shift Toward Sustainability
The story of Smitha Kamath starts in Mysore, where she was raised and studied polymer science and technology. Her daughter’s severe eczema at age two changed the course of her life once she moved to Bangalore. When traditional medical treatments didn’t work, Smitha looked into homeopathy and other alternative therapies. After she became aware of the impact that food, daily items, and the environment have on health, she and her family embarked on a seven-year quest to live a more natural lifestyle.
Her life changed when she realized the effects of chemicals in food, home goods, and personal care products. It evolved into a comprehensive strategy for her family’s better lifestyle, going beyond only treating her daughter’s eczema. The seeds of what would eventually become PraanaPoorna were planted by this change.
Discovering Sustainability at Greenpeace
When she joined Greenpeace in 2006, Smitha became aware of the harsh reality of unsustainable growth and environmental deterioration. The encounter depressed her and left her feeling disillusioned. However, during this period, Smitha’s relationship with the environment strengthened, and she gradually started to accept sustainability as her vocation both personally and professionally.
After attending a course in Auroville where she learned about self-sustaining ecosystems and the value of natural resources, her path toward sustainability took a more spiritual turn. Her conviction that sustainable living was not only feasible but also necessary for future generations was strengthened by this. Rekindled by her enthusiasm, she quit the corporate sector to devote herself entirely to sustainable practices, establishing the groundwork for PraanaPoorna.
Sustainable Personal Care Products
In order to provide sustainable and natural alternatives to the chemical-laden personal care products that now dominate the market, Smitha Kamath launched PraanaPoorna. Smitha was aware of the need for safer, environmentally friendly substitutes because she had discovered her own allergies to common items. She resorted to traditional wisdom, using natural medicines she had employed in her own home, such as castor oil, soapnut berries, and others.
The term “PraanaPoorna,” which translates to “complete life force,” reflects Smita’s conviction that sustainability encompasses not just environmental concerns but also mental, spiritual, and physical health. The company’s product portfolio, which includes a variety of natural personal care products including soaps and home cleansers, is informed by this holistic viewpoint.
Smitha’s goal is straightforward:
Smitha faced several obstacles in a field where mass manufacturing and artificial additives predominated.
“To offer natural goods that benefit both the environment and human health. However, it wasn’t simple to make this idea a reality.”
Smitha faced several obstacles in a field where mass manufacturing and artificial additives predominated.
Changing Consumer Mindsets
Educating customers has been one of PraanaPoorna’s largest challenges. There are a lot of chemical-heavy personal care products on the market that promise powerful scents and speedy solutions.
As Smitha notes,
“People are used to the idea that harsh chemicals are necessary for cleanliness and effectiveness,”
which makes it challenging to change consumer behaviors. Teaching kids the benefits of natural alternatives for both the environment and themselves takes time.
Smita has discovered that breaking these deeply rooted patterns requires personal contact. Once consumers comprehend the goods’ underlying concept and the advantages of moving to natural alternatives, they frequently become more open. Scaling this individualized strategy to a wider market is still difficult, though. The message has been widely disseminated through social media and word-of-mouth, but changing consumer attitudes is a continuous effort.
The Distributed Production Model of PraanaPoorna
PraanaPoorna’s creative distributed production model is one of its distinguishing characteristics. PraanaPoorna supports small, local businesses to manufacture and market the items in their communities rather of centralizing manufacturing. In addition to fostering sustainability, this decentralized strategy offers micro-entrepreneurs in both rural and urban areas—especially women—a means of subsistence.
The model offers several advantages.
1. First, by cutting down on logistics and shipping, it lowers the carbon impact.
2. Second, it promotes local economic growth by empowering communities to take charge of the production process.
PraanaPoorna gives these small businesses the tools and resources they need to manufacture natural personal care products while upholding strict quality and environmental responsibility requirements by providing training in sustainable practices.
Scaling PraanaPoorna Sustainably
Although PraanaPoorna’s distributed production approach provides a sustainable substitute for traditional manufacturing, there have been challenges in growing the company. Every choice is well thought out since Smita is dedicated to upholding the integrity of her ideals while expanding the company.
Smitha states,
“We don’t want to expand merely for the sake of it.” “Every new project or product must be in line with our values of sustainability and community empowerment.”
PraanaPoorna’s careful approach to expansion involves striking a balance as it handles supply chain problems, logistical obstacles, and the requirement to preserve product uniformity across several manufacturing facilities.
Smitha is steadfast in her will to scale while adhering to her vision, though. According to her, PraanaPoorna is a movement as well as a company that promotes a closer bond between customers, their local communities, and the environment.
Personal Transformation and the Philosophy Behind PraanaPoorna
PraanaPoorna’s worldview is inextricably linked to Smitha’s personal development. Her career and lifestyle have been influenced by her experiences with yoga, ancient practices, and natural medicine. Castor oil and soapnut are two natural treatments that Smita has been using on a regular basis for years since she is sensitive to the toxins in conventional goods.
The growth of PraanaPoorna was also greatly influenced by her spiritual experience. Following a time of reflection and self-discovery, Smita came to the conclusion that genuine sustainability encompasses not just environmental responsibility but also emotional and spiritual well-being. The core of PraanaPoorna’s product range is this holistic approach, which seeks to nurture the body, mind, and spirit.
Expanding Impact Through Community Engagement
Smitha sees PraanaPoorna growing in the future by educating and interacting with the community. Children and adults may learn the value of reestablishing a connection with environment and embracing sustainable practices through seminars offered by the company’s Soil and Soul project. These seminars include subjects that are essential to Smitha’s idea of living in balance with the environment, such as natural farming, bioenzymes, and water conservation.
With ambitions to expand, PraanaPoorna’s distributed manufacturing approach is now being piloted nationwide. According to Smitha, this paradigm is essential for tackling environmental issues like soil erosion and water pollution while giving underprivileged populations access to economic possibilities.
A Vision for a Sustainable Future
The metamorphosis of Smitha Kamath from a worried mother to the creator of PraanaPoorna is proof of the strength of individual change and its global influence. Because of her commitment to sustainability, Smitha has not only built a successful company but also sparked a movement in the community to live more sustainably.
Smitha’s fundamental conviction that sustainable living encompasses more than simply environmentalism and involves establishing a way of life that is in harmony with the natural world, society, and individual well-being is reflected in PraanaPoorna’s goods. As the business expands, its goal of encouraging people and communities to adopt a more sustainable, thoughtful lifestyle stays the same.
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