“Save waste from being littered, burnt or going into dumping grounds through recycling, composting or co-processing and create waste free cities, towns and villages.”

Yes, in our yet another enthralling and inspiring Sustain Talk, our Change-maker Siddhant Raka interviewed the man with this vision; Mr. Kedar Sohoni, Founder, Green Communities Foundation. An IIT and IIM alumnus, Kedar Sohoni, in 2016 started experimenting with managing the waste being produced by his own home and a year later managed to turn his 220 apartment society waste neutral. It was then when GCF was born!

After going through some health issue and pondering upon it’s root cause, Mr. Kedar was set thinking as to what am I consuming? Where is the food coming from? After attending numerous farmer’s markets and getting into deep talks with people in the field, he realised ‘waste management’ is the need of the hour. 

“The destiny of our environment is in our hands. We need to change certain beliefs today”, says Mr. Kedar. Since then, this green warrior has been playing his part by trying to create successful models of Waste Management in both urban and rural areas. Being in the waste management and sustainability space in urban and rural areas in and around Mumbai, they are on a mission of diverting waste from landfills by offering end-to-end services to assist any waste generator into turning waste neutral. Since May 2017, GCF has worked with over 200 societies, commercial establishments, institutions and schools and saved over 4000 tonnes of MSW from going into landfills through a combination of segregation at source, composting and recycling.

By working and involving various stakeholders like residential communities, government bodies, Corporates, Foundations, NGO partners and other entrepreneurs GCF has managed to bring about the change from community to community, from society to society. “Get to the root of the problem that resonates you and then go hammer and tongs”, is the moto he followed and an advice he wants everyone else to preach. 

Urban India produces about 6.2 crore tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) every single day. Less than 70% of this is collected, less than 20% is treated, and more than 50% is dumped. Improper waste management is deteriorating the quality of air we breathe, the soil we grow in and contaminating the water we drink. Quoting Mr. Kedar, it is our “Right, Responsibility and Role” in living a sustainable and healthy lifestyle. We have to respect our surrounding by coming up innovative yet green products by being vigilant and intuitional. This Sustain Talks speaker enlightened us with his very simple and easy formula of managing waste efficiently and his inspiring journey in doing his bit towards a eco-surrounding. Let’s join hands with GCF by: Growing your own food, Composting your waste and Feeding a proper meal to your family!

By : Riya Nathe