Tamil Nadu

For over three decades, the villagers near Vettangudi Bird Sanctuary have consciously avoided bursting crackers, not just during Diwali, but also during weddings and temple festivals.

In Chennai, women drive dark green e-autos selling fresh vegetables — packed not in plastic, but in bright yellow manjapai cloth bags. This eco-friendly project empowers women, revives tradition, and tackles plastic waste.

Each Navratri, Chennai’s Mylapore turns into a living gallery of dolls and stories. Behind every stall are families who have kept this craft alive for generations — and whose livelihoods depend on these festive days.

They said the Desert Rose was too exotic. Too delicate. Not worth it. Jalandhar proved them all wrong. From a small village in Tamil Nadu, he built a blooming business around a plant that requires almost no maintenance, just sun, water, and love.

Once threatened by poaching and tree-cutting, Elathur Lake in Erode is now home to 187 bird species and a proud Biodiversity Heritage Site — thanks to its people.

In Tamil Nadu's Nellivasal village, students at a government school had to defecate in the open due to the lack of proper toilets. Architect Barnala Michael, along with his friend Vishnupriya, constructed low-cost, sustainable toilets, addressing hygiene issues and promoting eco-friendly practices.

After a successful career in the steel industry, 78-year-old HR Iyer chose a quieter, more meaningful life by turning to organic farming in Kodaikanal. Swapping machines for earthworms, he transformed 18-acres of land into a thriving farm, finding purpose, peace, and inspiration in nurturing nature and growing his own food.

In Tamil Nadu, the Irula tribe utilises ancestral knowledge to extract snake venom, supplying nearly 80 per cent of India’s anti-venom.

In coastal Tamil Nadu, 10,000 villagers joined hands with forest officials to revive the state’s largest mangrove forest. Using ancient knowledge and scientific design, they restored 2,057 hectares of dying wetlands—bringing back biodiversity, fish, and hope. This is the powerful story of nature’s comeback, led by the people who need it most.

What do you do with a weed that grows back in 14 days and kills everything in its path? In Trichy, 25-year-old ecologist Sushmita Krishnan found an answer — she turned it into handmade paper and trained 150 women to do the same.