NotificationMeet Jal Saheli -- a rare glimmer of hope, in scorched regions of Bundelkhand The Jal Saheli has written a new paradigm of grit, determination, and hard work to meet the challenge of drought-prone communities that endure significant water scarcity every summer. These women in blue veiled sarees are the archetype of fortitude and willpower. Jal Sahelis adopted the most traditional and sustainable technique of water harvesting, which will promote eco-friendly living in the future.
In the fight against climate change, children need to be at the heart and center of it. Licypriya, a 10-year-old schoolchild, is an outspoken environment activist, known for taking concrete actions for environmental conservation. At a very young age of 7, she was invited to speak at the UN, and she also became the youngest recipient of the TN Khoshoo Award for her efforts that accelerated the impact of environmentalism. She's proved to us that age doesn't matter when making a difference and all you need is to have the courage to bring change.
Chandni Khandelwal, an NIFT alumna from Odisha, has grown up picking after the floods and cyclones over the years. Deeply troubled by the role plastic played in accelerating the rate of climate deterioration, and encouraged by her educational background in designing, Chandni has set out on a journey that has opened a window of opportunity with sustainable innovation.
It almost sounds incomprehensible that a solar cooker could help preserve a woman's dignity. In rural India, women still spend an average of 3-4 days gathering firewood for their kitchens, a trip that has been deemed dangerous for them. Dr. Janak Palta McGilligan's objective in introducing women to solar cookers was to rid their kitchens of hazardous situations that were deteriorating their health and mutilating their dignity. Her contributions to the installation of solar cookers in rural India have changed countless lives and also earned her the Padma Shree Award.
Waste collection in India is done informally by waste pickers with no job security, income stability, or access to a social safety net. It would be grossly irresponsible to not recognize these workers, who are the pillars of our society's sustainability. Nalini fought the administration arduously in order to include waste pickers as indispensable workers in the system. Our society identifies them as the Dalits and untouchables but what we don't know is that these waste pickers save about 400k tonnes of reusable waste from entering landfills each year. Today, thanks to Nalini's fierce battle, more than 30,000 waste pickers leave for work with a sense of security and restored confidence.
A metropolis like Mumbai generates 10,000 metric tonnes of waste per day, and without initiatives like Monisha's to segregate and manage the mountains of waste, we'd soon be drowning under its weight. Her contribution is now converting 750 tons of kitchen waste through her RUR Green Gold Aerobic composter. Ivy League graduate Monisha Narke was aware that resistance to change would be strong. In, 2010, she started an initiative called "Go green with Tetra pack", where the cartons are pulped, compressed, and converted into solid sheets that replaces wood. Today there are fifty-four collection centers in Mumbai under the initiative that provides recycled furniture to multiple schools and self-help groups.
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