4 friends from a tier-two city donated a part of their monthly savings to build public toilets.

A woman decided to educate her neighbors on segregating wet and dry waste.

A school-going kid took a pledge to never litter on the streets and stop others who do.

Stories shape societies and that was the driving thought behind the #GarvHai campaign that we designed in partnership with MoHUA. Before getting into the stories of change, let’s take a look at how this campaign took birth.

The MoHUA's Swachh Survekshan wanted to focus on Jan Bhagidari (public participation) in 2019 and we worked with the ministry to advance this movement. Swachh Survekshan, conducted by MoHUA since 2016, is the world’s largest urban sanitation and cleanliness survey.

The primary goal of Swachh Survekshans is to encourage large-scale citizen participation and create awareness amongst all sections of society about the importance of working together towards making towns and cities better places to reside in.

More often than not, changemakers go unnoticed and the #GarvHai campaign aimed to recognize those who pursued the dream of #MyCleanIndia. Stories 150 pioneers of a new India were shared by Indian citizens under the #GarvHai crusade.

To take you through some of those stories, let us ask you, how many clothes have you purchased in the past year? Stopped counting after a few, right? What if we tell you that one cotton t-shirt uses around half a kilo of pesticides?

After reading an article about the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai spending huge amounts of money on solid waste management, Meera Shah changed herself completely as a consumer. She believes in not buying anything that isn’t required and rarely shops for new clothes.

“I am very concerned with the use of plastic… Wherever I go, I make sure I carry my container. I have a minimal number of plates and glasses at home. Just enough for ourselves and our guests. Nothing extra.”- Meera Shah

In another story, a 41-year-old woman documented her 16-month journey of experimenting with various green initiatives on her blog, Endlessly Green. We know you are a curious kid just like us, so we already have the link to the blog. Check it out here. https://savitahiremath.com/

Savitha Hiremath’s apartment complex Sobha Althea has become a role model for reducing waste at source by following the three-bin segregation method and developing an in-house composting unit managed entirely by residents and housekeepers.

While there are many other stories of ordinary women with an extraordinary drive for sustainability, the teens also play their part in shaping a new India that’s greener and cleaner.

Prathyaksha Ramakrishna, a 14-year-old actor, offered the 1 lakh she got for a movie to build toilets. During the shoot, Prathyaksha travelled to a village called Dhanapura for two months to prepare herself for her character in the film. The film is based on an agitation of a girl called Mallama who fasted for three days due to the lack of toilet facilities in the village. Prathyaksha played the lead role in the film.

Oh, btw is the hashtag sounding interesting to you too? Then don’t wait to jump into this jhola (Hindi for a bag) full of stories of change. Until next time, play like a mouse and get all the cheese.