Those signature kerosene and petromax lamps at hawker shops have decorated our streets during its busy evenings for years now. They are a hawker’s constant companion and a basic necessity for their shops. But did you know that a hawker has to spend around 250-300 rupees every month for these lights? Parting with this big chunk of money from the handful that he earns becomes quite a burden. Accolades to Urja Unlimited, who understood this difficulty faced by the hawkers and came up with a fine solution – replacing the fuel lamps with solar power.

Urja Unlimited is an organization which was born with a novel idea of providing ‘energy for all’ through renewable energy. Urja aims to serve every village, town and city in India with efficient energy solutions. With its vision in mind, Urja initiated the project to support street hawkers and aspires to reach a million hawkers with their lanterns.

The main aim of the project is to completely eliminate the recurring fuel expenditure on the hawkers. Moreover, as we all know, there are environmental benefits attached to giving up the use exhaustible fuels. Also, the hawker gets to work in a fume free environment.

Over 150 hawkers in Faridabad enjoy the solar power

The first step towards energy efficiency was Urja Unlimited’s solar lantern project in Faridabad. Over 150 hawkers have opted for Urja’s lanterns which have given them a breather with their expenses. The brighter solar lamps have enlivened their surroundings, gotten rid of the risk of health hazards and brightened the faces of the hawkers.

Savitri Pandey, a hawker in Faridabad who has switched to Urja’s lantern, mentioned that she is now able to devote the cost savings on giving up the kerosene lamps to her children’s tuition needs. Saina Bano says that “Ab har mahina mittiktel (kerosene oil) chori se kharidane kay jhanjhat khatam.” Ashok, a hawker suffering from Tuberculosis, said that he is now spending less on his medical expenses.

Support to spread the cause

Replicating the success and spreading awareness across the country is a big task in the hands of Urja Unlimited now. The constraint is that the equipment is slightly priced on the higher side, around 2600 to 3600 rupees. Logically, the amount is equivalent to what the hawkers would spend over a year for their fuel costs and they need not spend any more on their fuels after this initial investment. Also, the lanterns can easily serve the users for almost 5 to 7 years. Urja intends to bring down the cost that could come on the hawkers by entering into partnerships with micro finance institutions, corporates and other philanthropic organizations.

How can you help this initiative?

With more people like you supporting the cause, we are sure that we can make some difference to the lives of more street hawkers. Here are a few things that you can do:

• Introduce Urja Unlimited to your company and encourage a corporate social responsibility initiative
• Contact Urja Unlimited to find out more about the initiative and help them serve better
• Help spread awareness about the use of renewable energy

You can know more about the organization at www.urjaunlimited.in. Urja and The Better India shall assist you in sharing your contributions.

One question that you would perhaps like to answer is “How do I reduce my contribution to the city’s garbage system without altering my lifestyle too much?” Well, let Daily Dump answer that for you.
Daily Dump provides a commercial compost ‘pit’ that you can have at your home. All your leftovers and other organic waste can be dumped into these pits. Within a few months this becomes manure and you can use it for your garden or just sell it off to a needy farmer maybe.

Early Days

Daily Dump, the brain child of Ms Poonam Bir Kasturi, evolved from the question – How can design make a difference? Poonam graduated in Product Design in 1985 from the National Institute of Design. She worked in a small scale manufacturing company after college and then set up a craft based design company called Industree with two other partners. She quit after 5 years and set up Playnspeak, a proprietorship concern, to make products for the home. At the same time Poonam also was the founding faculty of Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology in Bangalore which she in May 2008 to start Daily Dump.

So, what exactly is Daily Dump?

In simple words, this product allows every homeowner to reduce their contribution to city waste. In India, no commerical home composter was available till the Daily Dump product was launched.
It is designed for a single family as the “customer”. It is supported by a service backup and customer support. It actually helps families convert their wet waste into eco-friendly compost. The knowledge base is open-source to encourage micro-enterprises.

The Product and its elements

Daily Dump has designed a product with which anyone can convert kitchen waste into compost at home. The product, made of terra-cotta, is sourced from village potters. It is marketed through word-of-mouth referrals, media awareness, and their website. It is sold through channels including individuals, retail stores, and societies. The designs are ‘open source’, so individuals in other locations can replicate, adapt, build on, sell and use – for wide and rapid propagation of the idea.

The current product works well in independent homes; and they are working on a ‘mechanical composter’ for use in flats. Daily Dump’s vision is to see a composter pre-fitted in every flat sold in the country, as a standard fitting. Daily Dump not only retro fits composters at homes and other establishments but also provides maintenance advice and assistance through its service plans, essentially allowing you to just dump and letting nature and Daily Dump do the rest.

This product, in addition to reducing waste, serves as a way to get over the social stigma attached to waste in our country. Without being preachy it makes the job of taking care of your waste “doable” and “possible”.

The potters who make the terra cotta pots have benefited significantly – their profitability has increased since they started making these products.

The Team

The current Daily Dump team comprises of:
Poonam Bir Kasturi (Founder), Delara Damania (Designer), Savitha, Shwetha, Vinita, Trupti, Sudheer and Anupama

Current Challenges

The challenge faced by the team presently is to create sustainable revenue streams and make money out of all the research and design work that they have done. The team has also learnt a lot and is looking to partner with NGO’s now to make strategic connections to enable waste to be managed better all over the country. Daily Dump has a robust design and an easily replicable one, which can be adapted by most people all over India.

Looking forward, Daily Dump is in the process of prototyping a mechanical composter to be retrofitted into homes in India. For this, they are looking to work with builders and see if this product can then enter into every home as a standard fitting.
The Daily Dump team is constantly trying to figure out:

• How to get builders to retrofit a composter in each balcony and utility?
• How to design a new mechanical composter such that it follows the cradle to cradle philosophy and yet is cheap and fits into the informal manufacturing setup that dots the Indian urban landscape?

Recognition

Daily Dump has received the following awards & honors:

• “Nominated for the INDEX awards 2007 – an international award to improve the quality of life
• Awarded the Green Product of the Year by Anchor Better Interior Excellence Awards 2007
• Made it to the final round of the TATA NEN Hottest Startups 2009.
• Indira International Innovation’s ‘Star Entrepreneur of the Year Award’, 2009
• Made it to the final round of the Sankalp Social Enterprise and Investment Forum Award 2009.

Global Warming. Unemployment. How do you come up with a solution that addresses both these issues? S M Raju, a civil servant in Bihar has done just that. Raju has started a campaign to encourage unemployed village folk to start planting trees. This campaign has been linked with the government’s NREGA (National Rural Employment Guarantee Act) and thus the village people earn money by planting these trees.

Amarnath Tewary writes in this article at the BBC:

An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a novel way of providing employment to millions of poor in the eastern state of Bihar.

The article quotes that about 44% of Bihar’s population is under the poverty line. And Bihar has not been able to successfully spend the NREGA funds allocated to them mostly due to lack of awareness. Here comes Raju’s idea of bringing in tree plantation as part of NREGA.

Raju’s program has brought in significant benefits, as he says:

“So the idea struck to my mind, why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days?

“Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210).”

Read the complete article here, which lists how Raju conceptualized and executed this successful idea. A special thanks to reporter Amarnath Tewary for writing about this.

Link to original article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/8257563.stm
Link submitted by: Deepak and Prakash

In this article, we talk about a successful cooperative initiative called The Apple Project launched by Shri Jagdamba Samiti (SJS), an NGO led by Mr. L.P. Semwal.

SJS launched this project in Uttarakhand with the realisation that small farmers in a market-oriented agribusiness get further marginalised mainly due to the dominance of mandis, a chain of well-organised intermediaries who control the entire process from credit supply for farm inputs, transportation and marketing of produce. The apple project hence strives to create a model of business-driven, decentralised independent and small-scale production with coordinated arrangements for processing and marketing by providing technical, managerial and investment support to enable farmers collectively to move up the value chain. The ‘collective’ feature of the business model is promoted to save individual time, distribute risk, maintain price assurance, pursue damage control and save on handling costs such as storage and transportation.

Empowerment beyond economic gains

The Centre apparently did have an empowering effect among the community beyond mere economic gains. First, market dynamics and the apple business as such became more transparent and easier to understand for everyone. Thereby, people were enabled to participate actively and accumulate broader ownership instead of depending on traders and middlemen. Also, people were encouraged to view and understand power no longer purely along the lines of traditional class boundaries, but become aware of the power and possibilities for participation they have. Also, the Centre has an empowering effect on women. It was for instance repeatedly noted that women were for the first time participating in public meetings, and daring to speak up in public.

Breaking the prevalent market cycle

A main strategy of the Apple Project is to break the dependency of small and marginal farmers on middlemen through a process of a joint marketing via the Centre. This has both strong economic effects, as it raises the farmers’ direct gains significantly, and empowers them by reducing their risk of being exploited by middlemen. However, breaking entirely away from a highly organised network of middlemen is not an easy task. Middlemen still keep a tight control of crucial stages of growing as well as apples’ post-harvest processing. Sometimes, middlemen also operate transport services and buy apples from farmers at their orchards, but at a very low price. It is hence not easy for small farmers to delink themselves from the system controlled by middlemen. A sustainable, comprehensive alternative system should be in place.

The role of SJS as an external agent

The commitment, entrepreneurial competence and perseverance of the leadership of the farmers’ association and the Centre staff have been the main contributory factors for the success of business operations. SJS as an external agent has, however, played a distinctive role as a facilitator of the process. SJS’s main contribution has been to come up with an innovative business model for small and marginal apple growers and to build capacities of farmers to own and run such a business operation. SJS’s role in this regard has been building capacities of farmers in general and leadership of the farmers’ association in particular. The other important role that SJS has played as an external agent is to mediate power-play in relation to forming the farmers’ association.

Matching economic goals with social goals

The uniqueness of the Apple Project is its business model which is based on the functioning of the business operations whilst at the same ensuring social goals. If economic benefits are only used for consumption purposes there is no clear link to social change. Hence, it is important to monitor what the money is spent for (e.g. education, better health care etc.).

Economic empowerment alongside social interventions is required in order to stimulate long-term social change. SJS is also aware that joint ownership of the business operations alone will not automatically deliver social goals. The new form of collective ownership is an alternative to the form of organisations hitherto established in the village which were dominated by the Sayanas. SJS is cautious that opposing an existent power structure can lead to the unintended creation of another power structure. This is a major concern for the future.

Promoting a value-driven business model

Organising small and marginal apple growers is not simply an economic activity. The story of apple growers in Bawar area suggests that power structures and politics play a major role in village life and an economic activity cannot circumvent or keep aloof from such realities. The new farmers’ association and the Centre promoted a principle of political neutrality and a leadership model which is based on competence instead of party affiliations. Promoting a new form of economic activity with a social goal based on political neutrality and competence had been possible due to the values of inclusiveness and tolerance of diversity, which the Centre stands for. Drivers of change must hence incorporate the values they aim to promote, and these should be reflected in all areas of operation.

Enabling farmers to jointly move up the economic chain

With support from private investors, originating from successful business families, a new model for advancement of small and marginal farmers is now being tested in India and other countries. This model is an attempt to find a healthy entry point for rural development by concentrating on setting-up healthy agro-businesses in which farmers themselves gradually gain economic ownership.
Similar to the self-help groups and cooperatives, the aim is to set-up healthy business in handling, processing and trading farmer’s commodities on a commercial basis. The main difference of the new approach is that the farmers are equal business partners of the investor: they will only gain full economic ownership if the investment is repaid fully. No paternalistic form of aid, but a sound economic partnership between an investor and a (farmer-owned) company. The investor assists the farmers in setting up commercially-run businesses (private Limiteds), based on a solid feasibility and business plan, and makes available a full (guaranteed) loan to the new company. The companies are to generate sufficient profit to pay back the loan, capitalize the company and invest in new profitable business ventures (allowing the farmer to move further up the value-addition chain). Part of the profit flows back to the farmers in the form of better prices for their commodities and possibly dividend payments.Some of the guiding principles behind the projects where the new model is being tested, are:

The above article is excerpted from the original article by CDC with due permission from SJS.
All images courtesy CDC and SJS.

How many of us have cringed when handed the dreadful plastic bag, but found ourselves helpless in its omnipotent presence? How many of us have been alarmed at studies that point to the potential damage caused by a single plastic bag, let alone the millions that are consumed everyday? How many of us have wished that action groups, corporations, the government – someone would take a stand against this widespread menace of plastic and do something about it? Well, it’s time to stop wishing and start acting! And here’s a website and blog that helps you get started.

Less Plastic More Life is a creative effort by Vinod and his friends to spread awareness about the harmful effects of plastic bags. Ironically, Vinod is a polymer engineer by training, which perhaps gives him greater authority to speak on the subject. Informative, interesting and effective, the website is not preachy but actually conveys the message in an innovative, easy-to-swallow capsule. There is a blog linked to the website, that takes us to a highly engaging set of articles, campaigns, posters, news and snippets from around the world that are sure to inspire and help any reader in kicking the plastic and adopting more environment-friendly alternatives.

One of their most effective campaigns has been a poster of a dead cow in a plastic bag (shown on top), which depicts that accepting a plastic bag is as bad as killing a cow. And with good reason. An excerpt from an article titled Plastic Bags kill Cows. Please decide which is more sacred to you on their blog:

Many people have been laughing their heads off at Maneka Gandhi’s contention that drinking milk can be harmful to health. They find it ludicrous that milk-which is considered the very epitome of good health across the country-can be hazardous. Or the gentle cow-revered across the country as a harbinger of prosperity-can bring any harm. But Maneka’s submissions are proving to be true, if in a different way. The Animal Husbandry Department of Uttar Pradesh has come up with an alarming discovery: Milk from cows which have polythene bags clogging their stomachs can cause diseases like tuberculosis and cancer.

Not to mention what happens to the cows.

Sprinkled with a generous helping of interesting videos, like the one shown here, the blog makes for good reading.

 

 It also has some wonderful designs for cloth bags, for any NGO or manufacturer who can take the idea forward and make them available to the public. Vinod has helped in the creation of several other campaigns including some for the World Wildlife Fund and one that encourages people to plant trees by making it simple (www.treesforfree.org). You can find some of his work here.

So learn, adopt and implement. Lead a life less plastic. It’s not as tough as you think. Visit lessplasticmorelife today and be the change you wish to see.

India boasts of one of the most amazing biodiversities in the world. The vastly differing terrains and climatic conditions present along the length and breadth of the country gives it a unique flora and fauna, unmatched almost anywhere else in the world.

From this one can gauge the enormity of a task like documenting or mapping this biodiversity in any useful format. However, there is one body that has undertaken this daunting task, and is executing it with a commendable effort. This is the India Biodiversity Portal. Currently comprising of about a hundred maps depicting the various aspects of Indian biodiversity, it is an ongoing process of adding new maps and layers to the rapidly growing pool. The website makes it clear that user participation is not only welcome, it is essential:

..India Biodiversity Portal. A unique repository of information on India’s biodiversity. It is designed to harness collective knowledge, seek voluntary participation of users and establish a participative system of content generation, verification and usage. The Portal aims to facilitate and enable widespread participation by all citizens in contributing and accessing information on Indian biodiversity, that benefits science and society, contributes to sustainable future; and guide the development and use of this Portal. Your participation is vital.

The IBP comes under the aegis of The National Knowledge Commission, a high-level advisory body to the Prime Minister of India, which has many other portals to its credit such as the India Environment Portal, India Water Portal, India Energy Portal, etc.

Check out the IBP today. You will be amazed at the wealth of information in there. And if possible, do help them expand and improve.

Link Courtesy: Arvind Singh. Thanks a ton!

How many people would pay from their own pockets to restore life into old trees? Perhaps not many. That is why it is inspiring to hear about Dr Ramana Rao, who paid nearly Rs one lakh of his own to relocate two ancient peepal trees that were felled in Bangalore to make way for new roads.

Catching sight of the two giant trees – one 225 years and the other 240 years old, lying at the side of a highway, Dr Rao decided he could not let them die. With the help of 40 people and two 50-tonne trailer trucks, he managed to transport the trees to T Begur village, where they have been planted and given a new life.

Dr Rao wishes he could find sponsors for many more such rescue efforts, as more and more trees are being subject to the axe. Infrastructure projects in Bangalore have recently evoked the ire of citizens in their injudicious and widespread tree-felling. The latest victim to this mass tree-cutting drive has been the pristine locale of Lalbagh – a 250-year old botanical garden that has been the pride of Bangalore since the days of Hyder Ali.

A portion of this beautiful garden has been earmarked to make way for the Bangalore Metro rail project, which will lead to the felling of nearly 300 old and lovingly preserved trees. Dr Rao wishes the City authorities would take an interest in conserving trees, especially those of great significance like the ones in Lalbagh.

“These trees have seen and weathered so many storms. It would be tragic to uproot them merely for the sake of new infrastructure,” he said.

Citizen protests have fallen on deaf ears as the government refuses to consider alternatives. Read more about the citizen efforts and how you can participate at Hasiru Usiru. There is also a rally on Saturday, May 9th, at 8.00 am on Nanda Road in a final bid to save these trees. Bangalore readers, do try and be there to lend your support to the campaign.

Deccan Herald carries the remarkable story of Dr Rao’s efforts in this article.
Image Courtesy: Flickr

Link Courtesy: Faiq Gazdhar. Thanks!

Village Services Trust (VST) is an NGO based in Tamil Nadu with a mission to facilitate rural development through community development projects. Their vision is to “serve the basic needs and priorities of the socially, educationally and economically backward sections of women, foster rehabilitation and overall development of the physically challenged and provide utmost care and support for child welfare”.

VST’s main focus areas are women’s empowerment and child welfare and they currently operate in the Dindigul and Kanyakumari districts of Tamil Nadu. Many of their initiatives, targeting the areas of education, health and overall welfare, are implemented in tandem with the state government and other NGOs operating in these areas.

VST has enabled the formation of women’s group in village to campaign for better representation and involvement in key decision making processes. They also have implemented a Grameen Bank model micro credit system that is supported by Self Help Groups (SHGs). These SHGs have also been successful in building community network within these societies for women and the marginalised.

VST also runs health centers to provide medical, maternity consultations and counselling. In collaboration with the Aravind hospital, Madurai, VST has organized eye and dental camps. They are also active in spreading awareness about personal hygiene, HIV, STDs, immunization and family planning.

The other major focus for VST is child welfare with emphasis on rehabilitation of abandoned and abused children. VST rescues at-risk children and provides them shelter, education, vocational training and, more importantly, an opportunity to lead a normal life again. The child rehabilitation project has been operational since 1999 at their Dindigul center. It is estimated that there are 3500 children living on the streets of Dindigul.

Many of the abandoned or run-away children seek work in factories and shops to earn a living. Their predicament makes them easy victims of sexual, labor and/or drug abuse. VST seeks to help these children by help strengthen family structure to minimize run-aways, scouting for and reaching out to the abandoned as early as possible and shelter them before abuse. They also rescue abused children and provide a safe shelter where they can grow in a nurturing environment.

At present, there at 83 children being cared for at the shelter. It takes almost Rs. 1.5 Lakhs or $3,000 a month to sustain this project, to provide for children’s basic needs ie food, clothing, health care, education etc.

The child rehabilitation project currently has a crisis of funds. VST is seeking donations to help them continue operations and provide for these children.

Below is the link to their website which is enabled with a Paypal system for donations. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated by VST and the children. You can also choose to sponsor a child at the shelter.

Village Services Trust

Please do visit the website to read more about the work that they are doing on the ground.

You can also contact them at

The Village Service Trust

Michaelpalayam – 624215
Nilakottai Taluk
Dindigul District
Tamil Nadu

Phone: +91 (451) 6531 997
Mobile: +91 (0) 995 286 4440 or +91 (0) 984 212 4729
Fax: +91 (451) 242 0430 or +91 (451) 244 0062

Email: thevst[at]rediffmail[dot]com

A cooking stove that not only cooks faster, saves fuel but also reduces harmful emissions by 80%. This is the promise of the stoves manufactured by Envirofit India Pvt. Ltd, part of the Shell Group. And they have already found 50,000 takers in the southern states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Kerala.

Eliminating the dependence of poor people on gas and electricity, both of which are expensive and hard to come by in rural areas, the Envirofit stoves work on wood which is easier to collect. By working on a fuller combustion model and using heat insulating material, they reduce cooking time by as much as 40% as compared to traditional three stone stoves. However, at a retail price of a minimum of Rs.700 for a single pot burner, they might still be a little unaffordable for the large population living below poverty line. Envirofit aims to bring down this price to Rs. 500 in order to cater to this segment as well.

Poornima Mohandas reports in Mint:

The retail channel in south India sure seems ready. Sadathulla, a home appliances retailer in Gundalpet, says he sells more Envirofit stoves in a month than kerosene, electric or gas stoves.

With a reported 1.6 million deaths globally due to the use of solid biomass fuels, 400,000 of which are in India itself, it appears that the Envirofit stove could not have arrived sooner.

Read the complete article here.

Photo Courtesy: www.livemint.com

StoryTrails provides a unique way of learning about India. In stead of carrying out the usual touristy routes of sight-seeing and visiting the famous locations, StoryTrails adopts a new path. They carry out what they term as “Trails” which visitors can be a part of. These trails, to use their own words, are “a subtle presentation of some fascinating arts, customs and practices that are unique to the region, which we help our guests discover and learn about“.

We believe this is a great way to actually immerse yourself in the culture of the region and learn about India in your own way, at your own pace.

One such trail that was recently organized by StoryTrails was “The Animal Trail” in Chennai. The idea of this trail was to make children more comfortable with animals, and to dispel the fear and myths that children usually associate animals with. As part of this trail, the children were taken to the Blue Cross which is a shelter for abandoned and stray animals at Velachery.

This article by Kamini Mathai in the Times of India provides more details about this initiative by StoryTrails.

The other such “trails” carried about by StoryTrails include the Peacock Trail, Bazaar Trail and Family Trails.

Click here to check out their website and to participate in their unique way of knowing India better.