From feeding the poor to setting up a zero-waste store: top SS stories you should not miss
How Let’s Feed Bengaluru is tackling hunger and starvation, one home cooked meal at a time
Harshil Mittal, 26, started the Let’s Feed Bengaluru initiative in 2015 to provide meals to the underprivileged. Today, aided by 4,000 donors and volunteers, the organisation collects and distributes homecooked food to lakhs of people in five cities. Harshil says, while his initiative cannot eradicate hunger, it provides an opportunity for people to serve others. Over the years, the organisation has gone beyond food distribution, and has collected and distributed over 20,000 sets of clothes, 60,000 sanitary napkins, and stationery kits to the needy.
When education met entrepreneurship: Teach For India to empower early-stage startups
After working with over 320 schools across Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, Hyderabad, Chennai, Ahmedabad, and Delhi, Teach For India (TFI), in 2016, decided to move beyond classrooms. With an aim to incubate and empower “promising early-stage entrepreneurs”, TFI founded InnovatED, designed to be a decentralised incubation platform, instead of a physical incubator or a co-working space.
In less than two years, InnovatED has enabled 15 early-stage education entrepreneurs to build organisations that are working across the spectrum of education - from public schools and parent leadership, to scientific thinking and student voice.
Using palm leaves, this couple is making eco-friendly tableware and cutlery
Eco-friendly weddings are now a trend in India with more people realising the adverse impact of using plastic at such events. Chennai-based couple Roli Bhat and T Harsh founded Adaaya Farm with an aim to curb the use of such non-biodegradable cutlery and tableware in festivities and celebrations. Their store offers tableware made from palm leaves.
From soup bowls to sausage trays, Adaaya Farm produces 30 to 35 different kinds of products, which are completely biodegradable. The products are priced in the range of Rs 3 to Rs 12 per piece, and they accept a minimum order of 25.
From Kashmir to the US, the story of the Valley’s first woman wheelchair basketball player
Inshah was left wheelchair-bound at the age of 15 when she met with an accident that caused a spinal injury. A year earlier, she was diagnosed with a severe stomach ulcer as well. Despite this, due to her love for basketball, she took up wheelchair basketball and competed at the national level in 2017. However, what motivated her to take up the sport was witnessing people with disabilities play it. From then on, there was no looking back. Recently, Inshah was invited by the US Consulate to participate in Sports Visitor Programme 2019 at North Carolina, USA. Now, her only aim is to bring a positive change in the sporting scenario of India for women.
At this Goa’s all-purpose zero-waste store, one can buy anything but plastic and non-organic products
Like other Indian states, Goa too has been witnessing piles of waste being dumped onto its beaches and streets. Seeing the plight of their home state, childhood friends Jonah Fernandes and Eldridge Lobo decided to make a difference, starting from their own business. The duo adopted a zero-waste lifestyle and initiated clean-up drives in their towns Siolim and Mojrim in Goa. To encourage their fellow citizens, the duo started an all-purpose zero-waste store called “Ecoposro” (posro means a small shop in Konkani) in April 2018. One can find anything under the roof in this store, except materials that contribute to waste.