In the last few weeks, we received many heartwarming and inspiring stories from all over the country. Many men, women and children irrespective of their age and background have been undertaking remarkable projects to make this country more sustainable.
The Doing Your Bit contest sought to crowdsource worthy eco-projects from across the country and acknowledge the great work being done by its citizens. The aim of Doing Your Bit and Eco India has been to provide eco-warriors an opportunity to garner attention to the environmental issues in their community and connect their initiatives with a larger audience.
All entries were assessed by a panel of experts on factors such as uniqueness of the initiative, its scalability, impact and plans for the future.
We are excited to announce the three winners of the Doing Your Bit contest. Here are their stories:
Gulmeher is a social entrepreneurship initiative to create alternative income generation activities for women waste-pickers in the vicinity of one of Delhi’s largest landfills at Ghazipur. Gulmeher provides skills training and creates market linkages for the products made by these waste pickers. The project has been operational since 2013. Their model also combines social initiatives such as financial education, crèche for young children, after-school program for students and health services.
LataSita by Meghna Nayak is about waste management through Zero-Waste Fashion. The organisation has created a process for making clothes using raw materials sourced directly from people’s wardrobes. They source sarees from women all over India, resulting in a one of a kind closed-loop and zero-waste production process. Their ‘Send Us Your Saree’ campaign encourages women to send their sarees to rework into brand new clothes. Meghna Nayak says that they have worked with thousands of sarees and countless pieces of old fabric, saving it from landfill and from lying unused and deteriorating.
Terra Conscious by Puja Mitra is a responsible marine and coastal travel experience. It’s conducted in partnership with local communities and enables informed and sensitive engagement. They work primarily with local boat partners and educate them about more sustainable and ethical. Goa has no marine protected areas or zones and by focusing on ethical tourism, they aim to build awareness about various marine species, bring in responsible tourism practices and encourage the authorities to implement better regulation.
These initiatives reflect the passion, spirit and resilience of enterprising eco-warriors all across the country. We will be sharing more such stories from the contest here.
After a very successful and impactful Season 1, we’ll soon be coming out with the Season 2 of Eco India. Please watch this space for more details.
