upcycleuae@gmail.com
UPCYCLE'S STORY
MEET THE FOUNDERS
Anupama Gokhale
Anupama Gokhale - Graduated with an Architecture degree from the Academy of Architecture in Mumbai, India. Her architectural experience, both in Mumbai and Dubai, ranges from designing high rise projects,villa communities, residential interiors and recreational spaces. It was during her formative years of education and work that she developed an interest in giving back to the environment, as she first hand saw the amount of construction waste generated as well as the resources used for solid waste management. When not propagating for the environment, Anupama is an avid reader, badminton player and also teaches yoga.
Batul Tambawala
Batul Tambawala - A management graduate from Mumbai university. After her studies she pursued the corporate life of working as a Management consultant in the area of Strategic and HR consulting. She however, took a break from work to raise her children. While her older son was around 5, she realised that they are generating a lot of plastic waste and that was worrying her. She understood the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling and decided to do something to reduce it.
A B O U T U S
How it all began
It all began over a phone call when we discussed how frustrating it was to use the plastic bags within the supermarkets to buy our fruit and vegetables. While we continued to voice our frustration on how these plastic bags did not serve any need once we were home and they most likely found their way to the bin, something within Anupama said that why don't we try using cotton bags and see if the supermarkets accept them. This was in the year 2018. After that, started the whole journey with testing materials, sizes and the quality to check what works and what doesn’t
Once we were satisfied, we thought of making this product available to others who also maybe struggling and frustrated just like us. The statistics based on our own usage was shocking. At every visit to the supermarket, we collected on an average at least 10 produce bags. Which means that we consumed at least 520 bags per year, per family. We both are full time moms but were passionate about this cause and decided it was time we start taking things under our control.
Through Upcycle our passion found a voice. It took us another six months to launch the brand Upcycle.
A message which we would like to pass on to everyone is that :
Be conscious of your choices, and encourage those around you to think twice before they throw away any unnecessary plastic items. We as a society need to consider whether it’s worth trading off some convenience for a sustainable, healthy environment."