Clik here to view.
Presenting: The Better India’s Best of 2020 – Top Innovations
This article is a part of The Better India’s ‘Best of 2020’ — A list of 50 awesome changemakers recognised and honoured by The Better India this year. This is a celebration of remarkable people who...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why One Woman Decided to Launch a Menstrual Hygiene Kit After Her Shift to...
This article has been sponsored by Avni Several reports state that a single woman generates up to 125 kgs of non-biodegradable waste in the form of sanitary napkins, throughout her menstruating years....
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Man Restored 400 Native Plant Species to Create 25 City Forests in...
It was around 2007 that Mohammed Dilawar, a sparrow conservation activist, realised how difficult it was to find a native Indian plant species for his home in Nasik. Nurseries were selling foreign...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Engineer Creates 20 Mini Forests in Odisha Villages, Plants 1 Lakh Trees
Amresh Samant is an electrical engineer at the Paradip Port Trust in the Jagatsinghpur district of Odisha. But during weekends and holidays, the 46-year-old man strives to increase the green cover in...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In 20 Years, This Village Headmaster Turned His Govt School Into a Green Oasis
Last year, Alok Tripathi from Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district ran from pillar to post to acquire a pass to move around during the lockdown. He neither had classes to take, nor any medical emergencies....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Nagpur Man Quits Job To Revive Ancestral Land, Now Saves 2 Cr Litres of Water...
In 2016, when Anirudh Chaoji (54) first returned to his ancestral farm in Nagpur’s Mangli’s village, he was shocked by its deteriorating condition. He saw 6 acres of degrading forest, and a barren land...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Retd Professor Turns 3-Acre Waste Ground Green & Biodiverse, With 2000 Plant...
The lush green biodiversity park in Vishakhapatnam is a retired professor’s testimony to the philosophy of ‘practice what you preach’. Dr Mantha Ram Murthy, a marine biologist and former zoology...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Poachers Turn Protectors, Bring 5 Lakh Birds to Chilika – Success India Must...
Mangalajodi village in Odisha is roughly a 1.5-hour-long journey from the state capital of Bhubaneswar. It is adjacent to the freshwater wetland Chilika Lake, Asia’s largest brackish water lagoon....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Sarpanch Leads Kutch Village to Plant 7000 Trees & Build Lush Forest Using...
When Kankuben became the Sarpanch of Kutch’s Kukma village, she had two pressing problems to solve — lack of green cover and water pollution from factories. She was unable to comprehend why a small...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Bengaluru Couple Build Eco-friendly Home, Earn Rs 70,000 From Surplus Energy
Manju Nath distinctly remembers the house he saw decades ago in Bangalore (now Bengaluru). The red brick house had an earthy appeal, large windows and was surrounded by trees that looked a hundred...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Maharashtra Couple Makes Foldable Bamboo Cycles, Built to Your Height & Body...
It was a television show that inspired a former pilot of the Indian Air Force, Shashishekhar Pathak to launch ‘Bamboochi’, a firm that makes cycles from bamboo. The TV show was a tutorial on how to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Odisha Startup’s E-scooters Cost Just 18 paise/KM, Come With Swappable Batteries
A few years ago, Harshvardhan Didwania from Odisha became the fourth generation entrant in his family-owned automobile business. But he had different ideas on scaling operations of his family’s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Gujarat Startup’s Low-Cost Filters Save 60000 Litres of Water, Without...
In 2017, Amit Doshi from Gandhinagar, Gujarat, quit his corporate job in waste management after a 17-year-long stint, to start afresh. He says that while he wanted to continue working in the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Himachal Farmer Revives Ancient Crop System That Saves 50% Water, Has 0 Input...
Nekram Sharma was in his teens when he witnessed the implementation of the government’s policy on fertilisers in the Karsog valley of Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district. In the 1980s, the promotion of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mumbai Architect’s Award-Winning Hospital Design Using Jalis Saves up to 80%...
Little did Mumbai-based Rahul Kadri, Partner and Principal Architect at IMK Architects know that healthy competition among his team during a brainstorming session would bag them one of the most...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Maharashtra Man Beats Drought to Revive 400 Hectares, Makes Village Tanker-Free
The Lamkani village is roughly a 40 km drive from Dhule in Maharashtra. The name is derived from the Marathi word for ‘long’ and ‘kani’ meaning ‘ears’. So together it translates to — long ears. The...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Everyday Sustainability: How Being Picky on Your Grocery Run Could Help...
This article has been published in partnership with RSPO. Grocery shopping can entail creating a list while trying to compare brands on the basis of price, quantity, quality, etc. But, while many of...
View Article‘Hope to Inspire & Prioritise Earth’: Sonakshi Sinha’s Small Steps to a...
On one of her trips to the island country of Maldives, where she went snorkelling and witnessed the effects of climate change on the marine ecosystem first-hand—such as coral bleaching and loss of fish...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Using Waste, Jamia & AMU Professors Invent Eco-Friendly Cement That Is 25%...
Did you know that manufacturing one tonne of cement can release up to 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide? The ubiquitous material, which is used to construct most structures across the world, happens to be...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Unsung Hero Turns Dry Land Into Mini Forest, Helps Save 1.2 Million Litres of...
When Sasikanta Dash was appointed as the principal of Puducherry’s Tagore Government Arts and Science College in 2017, he was surprised to see a vast area of the campus lying unattended. In the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
21-YO From Andhra Pradesh Designs Biodegradable Face Shield For Just Rs 15
In May 2020, as India grappled with the second wave of COVID-19, Pabolu Mohan Aditya, a mechanical engineering student at SRM University, Andhra Pradesh, came across people who could not afford...
View ArticleClik here to view.
IFS Officer’s Brilliant Idea Ensures Roadside Plantations Have a 100% Success...
“Forest on wheels is a technique to plant tall trees in poly bags and create green belts overnight,” begins Indian Forest Services (IFS) officer Prasada Rao, who made headlines for developing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Fighting Climate Change, Rajasthan Villagers Turn Barren Land To Dense Forest
Karech, a village around 75 km from Udaipur, is probably the last village in western Rajasthan. The residents belong to tribal communities and their subsistence depends on agriculture, livestock...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In 34 Years, A Teacher Has Planted 50000 Trees To Turn Barren Land Into Green...
Often referred to as the Gateway to Thar, Rajasthan’s Jodhpur sits proudly at the edge of the famous desert, and is popular for its temples, palaces and forts, including the Mehrangarh Fort. But...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Initiative Has Been Saving Mumbai’s Mangroves for Over 3 Decades; Here’s...
This article has been published in partnership with Godrej & Boyce. To a visitor travelling North toward Thane district from South Mumbai, Vikhroli passes for an ecological oasis amid a stretch of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Seeing Farmers Suffer, Engineer Quits Job to Help 400 of Them Turn Organic
In 2014, shortly after Dhanbad’s Ravi Nishad bagged an IT job in Delhi, his mother fell ill and passed away. “She suffered from respiratory disease. The pollution from coal mines was responsible for...
View ArticleClik here to view.
This Mini Forest in Delhi Houses Birds, Fruits & 700 Plants on a Rooftop
Atop a residential building in Dwarka, Delhi, thrives a mini-ecosystem on Rashmi Shukla’s 1000 square ft terrace. A quaint bamboo hut in the centre holds space to spend a quiet evening amidst nature....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brothers Extract Gold & Silver From E-Waste, Save 100000 Metric Tonnes Of Carbon
A common phrase says ‘curiosity killed the cat’, but in the case of brothers Rohan and Nitin Gupta, it did quite the opposite. Here, curiosity led to a life-changing development, which further...
View ArticleHow to Make Gift Wraps Out of Banana Leaves For Your Diwali Gifts
It’s that time of the year when gifts and sweets are exchanged and what that also means is that a large amount of plastic and paper is used in just wrapping up the gifts. If you are looking for...
View ArticleWATCH: Engineer’s Zero-Waste Store Saves 1.26 Lakh Pieces of Plastic From...
Few live by example and practise the principles they preach, like ‘say no to plastic’ and ‘zero waste’. However, a 500-square feet store in Kolenchery, Kerala, has set an example by saving 1.26 lakh...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Breathing Life Into 100 Acres of Barren Land, This Hero Created a Green Oasis...
A few years ago, were you to drive past the 100-acre land in Shoolarji, along the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border, you might have found nothing but a barren patch that had long lost its fertility owing to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Farmer Gives Up 50-Acre Land To Protect ‘Deer’ Friends, Increases Population...
In Tamil Nadu’s Pudupalayam village, a 50-acre farm has something unique to offer — if you visit, you might be greeted by a flock of deer, alongside the usual goats and cows. For the past 20 years, the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Like Plantation Drives? This Startup Ensures ‘Taggers’ Verify The Trees you...
A group of climate-conscious individuals in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala have found a unique solution to the problem of abandoned saplings by developing an application that could provide transparency...
View ArticleThe Hero Who Returned to India to Single-Handedly Grow a Forest
With mass deforestation being a major contributor to climate change, a few unsung heroes are doing all they can to make sure it’s not too late to save the environment. One such hero is 74-year-old...
View ArticleClik here to view.
A Popular Literary Island off the Coast of Chile Needs Your Help
This article has been sponsored by Lenovo. For any student of literature, a mention of a shipwreck or being castaway on a remote island draws comparison with the legendary story of Robinson Crusoe....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Scuba Diver at 8, Girl Collects 600KG Plastic Waste to Help the Ocean Breathe
“We should not hold our breath while diving. It is the first and the most important rule in scuba diving,” says 8-year-old Thaaragai Aarathana, imparting ‘lessons on diving 101’ with this writer....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Kerala Teacher Turns School Campus into Herbal Garden & Mini Forest With 450...
The students of Vignjana Vilasini Higher Secondary School (VVHSS), Thamarakulam in Alappuzha district of Kerala, have been learning the values of environmental conservation while being part of several...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Why Boycotting Palm Oil Won’t Help Save the Environment
This article has been sponsored by RSPO. In one form or another, most of us have come across the proverbial saying, ‘You are what you eat’, which aims to emphasise the importance of eating healthy....
View ArticleClik here to view.
How to Recover From Disaster? 2 Friends Who Rebuilt 62,000 Homes Have The...
In 1998 a tropical cyclone hit the coast of Kandla in Gujarat and took away at least 3,000 lives in a few hours. While the cyclone was the catalyst, one of the main causes for the magnitude of the loss...
View Article‘3 Ways I Plan Low-Waste Travels Without Giving up On Comfort’
Kickstarting your journey of living a sustainable and eco-friendly lifestyle can be daunting at first, especially when it comes to travelling, where we tend to opt for convenience over sustainability....
View ArticleClik here to view.
Cartoon Network Brings Stories Of 6 Kids Who Are ‘Redrawing India’ With...
This article has been sponsored by Cartoon Network. Prasiddhi Singh from Tamil Nadu is an example that no one is too young to dream. A natural disaster inspired her at the age of six. “When Vardah...
View ArticleCop Spends Rs 30 Lakh From His Own Pocket, Turns Hometown Green with 1 Lakh...
The turning point for police constable Devender Sura from Sonipat came during his deployment in Chandigarh, a few years ago. He was mesmerised by the beauty of the city, especially the stunning green...
View ArticleClik here to view.
67-YO Follows Age-Old Upcycling Traditions, Turns Milk Packets into...
Until three years ago, Leelamma Mathew, a resident of Adoor, Kerala, was dumping or burning used milk packets like any other household. But on one such occasion, she was approached by a young girl who...
View ArticleIndia Will Get Carbon Markets: 10 Things About the Lok Sabha Bill & How It...
On Monday the Lok Sabha passed the Energy Conservation (Amendment) Bill, 2022, which establishes carbon credit markets. As per a report in the Mint, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may launch a national...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Ponds, Tropical Plants in Heart of Kerala: Businessman Turns Quarry into...
Businessman Musthafa Parammel Ambadi grew up in a traditional Kerala house surrounded by trees, streams and a pond. Over the years, his native place in a village in Malappuram saw many changes — new...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Civil Engineer Upcycles Stubble into Carbon-Negative Bricks; Reduces...
Did you know if cement were a country, it would be the third-largest emitter of CO2? The walls in our homes are a big contributor to climate change because cement emits huge amounts of carbon dioxide....
View ArticleIndore’s 74-YO Padma Shri Recipient Runs Zero-Waste Household With Zero...
As a teenager, Janak Palta McGilligan had a near-death experience and underwent open heart surgery at the age of 17. With a newfound respect for life, she decided to dedicate her life to mother...
View ArticleClik here to view.
In Rajasthan, Tea Seller Serves Free Chai & Breakfast to All Who Bring Him...
Near Kumbhalgarh Fort in Rajasthan, Bhaga Singh’s tea stall reads, “Give us plastic waste, drink tea in return.” Through this initiative, the tea stall owner is taking humble steps towards making...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Brothers Save 700 KG of Chewing Gum Plastic from Polluting the Earth, Earn Lakhs
While it’s certainly not true that chewing gum takes seven years to digest, there’s no denying that it can have an adverse effect on not just your health, but also the environment. Regular chewing...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Award-Winning Teacher Turns His School Campus into a Mini Forest With Over...
It all began when Raphi Ramanath, a biology teacher at Vignjana Vilasini Higher Secondary School (VVHSS) in Kerala, became the coordinator of his school’s eco-club. His aim was simple — to create...
View Article
