"We are on a green mission", says founder of Plants Kharido

Unless effective action is taken soon, our cities will heat up to a catastrophic level over the course of this century. Storms, floods, and other extreme weather conditions will harm us. But it is about time that we focus on a more solution-oriented approach rather than dwelling on the problems alone. And it is in this regard that startups like PlantsKharido.com promise a better future with their innovative strategies of simultaneous development of both, urban economy and climate consciousness.

In a conversation with the founder of PlantsKharido.com, Amit Kumar, he stressed on the importance of green spaces in urban sprawls and talked about how cities can also be centers of environmental conservation. Amit said, "Cities do not have to have a negative impact on nature and biodiversity. Nature, according to research, can play a critical role in assisting us in addressing some of these urban environmental challenges, such as stormwater management, pollution reduction, and climate resiliency. We now have the opportunity to choose urban development and planning models that will help us transition to a more environmentally friendly future and recognise cities as living systems: super-organisms teeming with life and providing enormous benefits to their surroundings."

Further, he also elaborated on how accelerating the transition to nature-positive cities, or "BiodiverCities," by 2030 should be a top priority for all of us. "Thirty-one of the world's greatest cities have already committed this year to cultivating and caring for urban nature, as well as creating opportunities for citizens to earn healthy and sustainable incomes. Investments in expanding, restoring, and protecting urban green and blue infrastructure are critical for making communities healthier, improving air quality, and assisting cities in mitigating the increasingly severe effects of the climate crisis, such as extreme heat, flooding, and droughts", said Amit.

However, while talking about the importance of climate conscious cities, the founder also stressed on how the local governments cannot bear this burden alone and that there is a need for a surge of innovation at multiple levels within the society to support the shift toward a nature-positive urban agenda, while also recognising the value and importance of nature's biodiversity in providing multiple ecosystems and resilience services. And it is with this idea that PlantsKharido.com was ideated, conceptualized and launched. Working with the aim of connecting plant nursery sellers and customers, the company aspires to bring plants into every household's arena. With its creative approach and advanced tech support, PlantsKharido.com has opened avenues for customers to shop for magnificent species of houseplants with fantastic foliage and/or fragrant blooms on your laptop or smartphone to embrace the entire urban jungle appeal from within the vicinity of our homes.

Talking about why and how of his company, founder Amit Kumar talked about the multi-faceted approach that he and his team are aspiring for. He said, "With nurseries reporting an increase in first-time gardeners, primarily young working professionals and families with young children in urban areas, online plant sales will provide clients with individualized guidance. Thus, with the kind of ecosystem that PlantsKharido.com is attempting to create, online plant sales will increase, leading to a more organized nursery sector, which would not only bring this industry into the formal economy, but would also help us build and develop a greener society."

It is indeed true that nurseries across the country are stocking up to keep up with rising sales as first-time gardeners discover the comfort of caring for plants and growing their own food at home. For the past few years, people have been speculating about an impending lockdown. This has piqued the interest of even more plant enthusiasts. They want to stock up on flowers and foliage to cheer them up while they are cooped up inside. Furthermore, an increasing number of first-time gardeners are investing in compost, coco peat, and pots in order to nurture plants and see something positive emerge in a world that is currently unnervingly unpredictable.

While elaborating on his project, Amit said, "Everything comes to us within a span of 10-20 minutes, from food to groceries to clothes, why not plants? This is the dream with which we started PlantsKharido.com; a dream to make plants accessible to everyone; a dream to bring your favorite plants to your doorstep from your neighborhood nurseries. This would not only ensure greener urban spaces but also inclusion of plant nursery owners and sellers into mainstream formal economy." And while this seems like a far-fetched dream, the company has been successful in accomplishing their targets so far. But definitely not without challenges. Elaborating on their development process, the founder said, "We ran a pilot project to evaluate the success rate of our delivery system and we got satisfactory reviews from our customers. The main challenge is to deliver plants with shorter shelf-life on time. And while that is mostly stated as the reason for the failure of the plant delivery system, I am glad we are making progress to combat that."

In this day and age, where jobs require endless hours in front of a screen, an increasing number of people are drawn closer to nature, the kind that they can escape to whenever they want. Plant shopping online allows you to immediately act on your desire for a pocket paradise by building one in the comfort of your own home. Nowadays, it doesn't matter whether you have a garden or a backyard, as long as you have a balcony or even large north-facing windows to provide brilliant morning light to your flowering plants. And in this regard, an initiative like PlantsKharido.com holds hopes for a greener future.

"I hope to create an ecosystem wherein the nursery owners and sellers can thrive without worrying about sales as we would be handling that for them. Our entire team is on a green mission and we hope to give back maximum to our capacity to mother earth.", said Amit Kumar.

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