A week ago a couple of the facilitators- Shantilal and Ajit- Deepak and myself went off to Maharashtra (West India) for a zero waste meet. Zero Waste is pretty much what it says- minimising consumption, especially of plastics, and finding ways of reusing and upcycling any waste produced. It was a great mix of conversations around waste, consumption and ‘the human condition’ as well as lots of care free creation of useful or decorative items out of waste or as alternatives to things that create waste. Among the things we learnt to make or about were natural (caustic soda free) soap, hand made paper, papier mache with indian pulses, mosaics out of waste, natural colours and painting, woven cloth bags from tailor’s scraps, food and toilet composting etc…

As well as all the fun had being crafty, it was a great opportunity for the facilitators from the village to meet the wider community and movement I feel we’re a part of- people talking about and taking action around genuine issues in education, environment, farming, health and life in general, as well as celebrating all that’s fantastic.

Before the meet, we had an opportunity to stop by at Mahatma Gandhi International School ( see previous post) to check out their last year’s worth of projects, as well as going to Gandhiji’s Ashram and visiting some fantastic projects around non-formal education of slum children. We also packed in a visit to Seva Cafe, a resaurant where healthy and tasty food is prepared and served with true love, completely run by volunteers and where no-one hands you a bill at the end- you gift Seva Cafe whatever you feel like as acknowledgement of their gift to you. If there is any money left after the cost of preparing food and rent it gets donated straight to a good cause in Ahmedabad- brilliant!