Poonam Bir Kasturi
Founder Daily Dump
A trained Industrial Designer from the National Institute of Design (NID), Poonam Bir Kasturi realized how necessary waste management was while dealing with the designing and marketing of industrial products. That was when she decided to start Daily Dump to create more awareness about composting, and to create products that would help them do it.
“Most of us are trying to make sense of the world we live in, we try and do things that help ourselves and we do want to be conscious citizens but do not know what a big change we can bring if we incorporate composting at home. India did not have a home composting product or service. Daily Dump is the story of an enterprise that designed and built these products and the awareness around the idea of how each of us can clean up India,” she says.
Talking about her products, “Our products are made by craft communities and small scale industry. So we want to help urban Indians reconnect with cycles of production, consumption and disposal in new ways.”
And she has succeeded, “Our customers keep 14000 kgs of organic waste out of landfill DAILY. This is a great positive impact to the city; it saves on fuel, vehicular pollution of carting waste over long distances, keeps soil fertile and costs the city nothing. If we love our kids, then we will know that we must allow them the opportunity to re-imagine their relationship with the earth, or we would have lost something of great value,” she says.
Vinod Heera Lal Eshwer
Artist/ Writer
Vinod Eshwer is a an award winning creative designer, writer and artist who, “loves trees and water,” and “hates plastic and garbage”
He has written two illustrated novels for children says, “I see no point talking to the older generation for you cannot really teach an old dog a new way to live.” His first book Lets Plant Trees is as the name suggests a simple yet profound account of the utilitarian nature of trees, corroborated by a series of illustrations, facts and figures.
And what makes it even more special? “My book comes with real tree seeds that children can plant,” he says.
His second book, Let's catch the rain is a treatise on the benefits on rain water harvesting that, “is a complete package with a film, an app game and a simple fun book in 9 languages.”
He also has created all the communication for treesforfree, an organization that aims as planting as many trees in the city as possible and has authored the wakeupcleanup campaign for the Bangalore Bruhat Mahanagara Palike.
He also minimizes his carbon footprint by cycling to work every day, “I love cycling and, not just because it's hip but because I enjoy it,” he says.
Despite it all, Vinod is remarkably blasé about what he does. “I just use my skills whenever opportunity arises to improve whatever little is possible,” he says.
Arvind Prabhakar
Co-founder Indus Riders
Arvind Prabhakar is unabashedly a warrior of sorts. A green warrior who has replaced his white palomino mare with a motorcycle.
“The idea has always been to use motorcycling as a way to scan the landscape for inspiring stories first. These early conversations with communities and the environment then lead to further interaction. The need to ride and report is what helps find stories of inspiring conservation work. At IndusRider we intend to continue exploring the country and finding ways in which motorcycle and rider can connect with this incredible country,” says Arvind, a former designer who ran a design and branding company in Bangalore for almost a decade before giving it up to start Indus Riders with his partner, Anand.
Talking about his work, “IndusRider is an official conservation support partner with Mhadei Research Centre, working in the Western ghats along the forests of Goa. The Otter Conservation, Awareness & Outreach program has been quite a success and together we are now looking at the next set of potential programs to start. In the pipeline are plans to help extend support to GPS tagging of White Bellied Sea Eagle nesting sites along the western coastlineThe other project also involves GPS tagging, this time around Laterite grasslands along the Western Ghats in regions surrounding Goa. IndusRider will be documenting and reporting stories from the ground as a part of its RiderReporter initiative,” he says.
MS Sunil
Co-founder, Managing Director and CEO, Hiren Technology
Sunil comes from a civil engineering background but has always been passionate about sustainable development. This translated into the starting of his company Hiren Technology, “Rainwater solutions and rooftop solar power solutions were limited to academic talks and weren’t getting translated into anything concrete at ground level. So I decided to start this company along with a friend,” he says.
Hiren works closely with both urban and rural communities developing rooftop rainwater harvesting solutions and ground water recharge projects. They have also recently forayed into organic plant nutrition, “We wish to make water, energy and nutrition accessible to all at an affordable price. Given that we have depleted water resources, energy sources and face fast depleting nutrition levels in our food basket, our reach towards sustainable water, energy and plant nutrition model assumes unprecedented importance,” he says, adding, “We do not boast of any great achievement—we are simply trying to do our best in our own little way. However, our efforts so far have saved nearly 3 billion liters of water for the city and still counting,” he says.
