Taking care of saplings regularly is more important than the plantation itself. Our volunteers ensure that our saplings are never devoid of water or the required nutrients.  Many of our volunteers are making compost from kitchen waste at their homes. This final product after one-two months of patience is a great nutrition for the saplings and ensures their good growth.

Ongoing celebrations to our sixth! Some of our volunteers planted mango, jamun and banyan tree saplings in their vicinity. They have been raising jamun and mango saplings at their homes while the banyan sapling was extracted from a wall. They will water these transplanted saplings regularly. We are overwhelmed with such environmentally conscious celebrations! If you've done something similar, share your pics and videos!

We turned six this week and some of our volunteers celebrated it by organizing a cleanup at Jal Mahal, Jaipur. They collected trash from the road to Jal Mahal, which is prone to littering by the tourists to this place. We are overwhelmed with such environmentally conscious celebrations! If you've done something similar, share your pics and videos!

 WE TURN 6! Today marks our group's sixth anniversary. While we are locked in because of Covid19, our excitement knows no bounds. Yes, we have our own constraints, we can't conduct a mass scale cleanup or a plantation drive to commemorate this day. But we've been encouraging individual-level activities. One of our volunteers conducted a cleanup in a park in his vicinity. You too can join the celebration with a similar act. We might be socially-distanced but we are in this together! To many more of such days to come!

Yes, covid19 has certainly curtailed our activities but it has failed to decimate the spirit of our volunteers. We encouraged our volunteers to do individual-level cleanups. Even a small spot was good. And that too only if they were comfortable doing so. Some responded well to the call of a covid-safe cleanup drive. So, we had volunteers doing their bit spread across geographies. Few cleanup up in Hauz Khas, Delhi. Few were in Jaipur so they cleaned up there. And there were a few in Janak Puri, Delhi, who not only cleaned up but also planted native trees after the cleanup. Our volunteers planted 60+ native tree saplings such as pilkhan, jamun and amaltas in a park. As always, we will not forget them after the plantation. In fact, we will visit them regularly for regular watering and maintenance.  You can also do a cleanup in your vicinity on a regular basis. Also, plant and nurture saplings near your homes. More the number of people doing it, more the trees and thus, healthier will...

Covid19 has limited our outdoor activities but not our volunteers' zeal to their bit for the environment in whatever way they can. Another one of our volunteers has set up a small nursery at her home with major occupants being neem and tomato saplings. We are reusing milk packets and collecting seeds from tomatoes and nimolis (neem seeds) from trees. You too can do this at your own place. If a lot of us are able to do it, we will be able to have a great bank of native tree saplings for subsequent years... all with zero waste! How to set up a zero waste nursery? You don't have to buy planters. Just REUSE your milk and other plastic packets - prevent them from ending up in the landfills Collect the seeds of mango, jamun and other fruits/ vegetables at home and sow them in the packets Going for a morning walk? Seek out for neem seeds and peepal saplings and plant them You can also make compost/ fertilizer from your kitchen waste and use them for your saplings; your plants will lov...

Did you know that the South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has begun penalizing RWAs that are not giving segregated waste to the waste collectors? If not, it’s ok. Many aren’t aware. But this caught the attention of one of our volunteers whose neighbourhood falls under the SDMC. And we believe it’s a great opportunity to push various resident welfare associations (RWA) even further. We have been pursuing the RWA of block AG 1 in Vikas Puri in west Delhi. Fortunately, the news of SDMC penalizing RWAs acted as a wake up call and things seem to be falling into place. We were requested to conduct a workshop on the same discussing various aspects of waste management, segregation at source, its increased significance in covid times and role of waste collectors. Also, we have been asked to help with the roadmap and execution of the same. In the coming few days we are going to use all our learning from our Sarita Vihar experience to replicate the same model here, which involved educating t...

11 SAPLINGS ADDED TO OUR NEW PLANTATION SITE In our efforts to transform a barren plot of land into micro-forested area , our volunteers added 11 native tree saplings to the already existing saplings. So, now a total of 40+ amaltas, neem, peepal, aam, gutel, kadipatta, gudal, jamun, pilkhan, siras and baheda young ones stand there to grow up as healthy adults. We were joined by a group of ardent kids who helped us with the entire drive starting from planting saplings to fencing them with the help of sticks and finally watering all of them - the earlier ones too! As we always say - we take care of our planted saplings regularly.  Our volunteers will keep visiting the site regularly to keep a tab on the existing saplings and also introduce more of them. Till then, we hope they stay safe and sound within the boundaries of the wall. 

It always feels good to be back on the ground digging the pits, providing the newbies with new habitat and fencing to protect them from outsiders. Our volunteers took further strides at our new site by planting 34 native tree saplings including neem, aam, gudal, jamun, pilkhan, baheda, peepal, kadipatta, siras, amalats and gutel. This variety also considers biodiversity!  This site is a barren plot of land, which we aim to transform into a dense micro-forested area. The active involvement of local communities boosts our spirit of continuing our work here and greenifies this stretch. We are self-funding this activity for the labour work required. With the current covid19 pandemic, we are keeping the scale of our drives to a limited number of volunteers. But all of us can take such initiatives at our homes or neighborhoods so that the environment keeps getting its dose of love and care too! Catch the action here:

Covid19 may have decimated our scale of activities but not our spirits. On 15-Aug-2020, two of our volunteers planted native tree saplings in their neighbourhood. They have been regularly planting and nurturing saplings in the stretch for more than two weeks now. With the addition of around 10 saplings yesterday including mango, peepal, kadi patta, baheda, arjun, siras; the total count so far is 24. And it won't stop here! There is a lot to add with their continuous efforts. You can do this too... Look for a spot near your place and plant some native tree saplings. Also, don't forget to water them regularly. You can also raise saplings at your homes so that we have a great bank of saplings to plant for next year's monsoon. Let's not allow this pandemic to put a hold on our environmental responsibilities! Let's keep doing our bit wherever we are!

"We don't have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world." - Howard Zinn In our series of decentralized activities, two of our volunteers kickstarted the plantation for this year's monsoon yesterday by planting 14 native tree saplings including amaltas, pilkhan, jamun, neem and peepal. Seeing their good act, a random passer-by also joined them! As we always say, this is not just a one day job. The volunteers will be going at the plantation site regularly to ensure healthy growth of the saplings. Also, they will keep adding new saplings to the buffet.  You can do this too... look for a spot near your place and plant some native tree saplings. Also, don't forget to water them regularly. You can also raise saplings at your homes so that we have a great bank of saplings to plant for next year's monsoon.  Let's not allow this pandemic to put a hold on ou...

Humble but regular efforts over a long term can have massive impact. We won't whinge about covid19-induced restrictions. We'll keep on doing whatever we can. Two of our volunteers added a few more native tree saplings to their nursery. This particular location is home to jamun, mango and neem. We are reusing milk packets, seeds from jamun and mango that we eat and collect nimolis from parks. You too can do this... at your own pace. If a lot of us are able to do it, we would have a great bank of native tree saplings... All with zero waste! How to set up a zero waste nursery? - You don't have to buy planters. Just REUSE your milk and other plastic packets - prevent them from ending up in the landfills - Collect the seeds of mango, jamun and other fruits/ vegetables at home and sow them in the packets - Going for a morning walk? Seek out for neem seeds and peepal saplings and plant them - You can also make compost/ fertilizer from your kitchen waste and use them for your sapli...

One of our volunteers conducted a small cleanup drive in his neighbourhood park. What he did: - Identified a spot that was a victim of garbage dumping/ littering - Wore a pair of reusable gloves - Collected the litter in single-use plastic bag available at home - Dumped the garbage in a nearby dustbin - Washed his gloves thoroughly with soap Satisfaction? 100% guaranteed! You too can conduct similar cleanups and share your pics or videos with us. While Covid19 attempts to keep us in boundaries, let's do whatever is possible within these confines. And lastly, a request to everyone... Please do not litter! The sanitation staff is anyway in shortage due to the pandemic. So, the more we litter, the bigger problem we'll create for ourselves. Let's use this pandemic as a lesson! Please!

According to a study by researchers at the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India’s iconic Vembanad lake - a wetland ecosystem recognised internationally by the Ramsar Convention - has been drowning in microplastics. Amidst this perpetual problem, a 69-year-old has been clearing discarded plastic bottles off the lake every single day for the last five years. Rowing a boat to collect plastic bottles dumped in Vembanad lake, sacking them up and selling to the plastic recycling company to manage a meagre income of Rs. 12 per day - this is how a typical day in NS Rajappan’s life looks like. All of that when he doesn’t own a boat! Yes, he hires one daily. Rajappan was affected by polio at a very young age and has been paralysed since then. He could not move his legs but managed to row a boat to make a living. Even though his source of income has been hit due to the Covid19 pandemic, he is happy to see the lake clean in years. We love and respect this volunteering spirit towards ...

The Covid19 pandemic has confined us all to our homes limiting us from organising large scale plantation drives. But our environmental duty must continue! So, what can we do? Our volunteers have a solution. One of our volunteers has been raising mango, jamun, pilkhan, bakain and peepal saplings at her terrace nursery this entire lockdown. All of them with whatever's available at home - mango and jamun seeds, milk and other food packets, and homemade compost. Yes! That's a zero budget nursery. And zero waste too! How to set up a zero waste nursery? - You don't have to buy planters. Just REUSE your milk and other plastic packets - prevent them from ending up in the landfills - Collect the seeds of mango, jamun and other fruits/ vegetables at home and sow them in the packets - Going for a morning walk? Seek out for neem seeds and peepal saplings and plant them - You can also make compost/ fertilizer from your kitchen waste and use them for your saplings; your plants will love ...