Earthtree, through its Project Nirantara, has been instrumental in helping VIDYA School become a certified Zero Waste School, awarded by Earthtree and the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram. The regular awareness sessions conducted by your team empowered our students as Green Avengers, inspiring them to lead sustainable practices not just in school, but also in their homes and communities. From waste segregation to composting and afforestation, Earthtree has nurtured a culture of responsibility, green leadership, and environmental action among our children.

It is with deep gratitude to Smita Ahuja, ma’am and the NGO Earthtree that I share these words. Through Project NIRANTARA, what once seemed an impossible dream—to make our school a zero waste institution—has become a reality. Smita ma’am’s devotion, tireless effort, and passion inspired our staff and students to work collectively towards this mission. with simple yet impactful practices like placing two bins in every classroom, collecting paper and plastics in green gulaks, recycling, composting kitchen and leaf waste, and engaging in eco-friendly activities every Tuesday, our students have not only adopted sustainable habits but also taken ownership of this change. Sessions with eco-friends further encouraged creativity by reusing materials for practical, everyday purposes.

Thanks to Project Nirantara, our school has proudly earned the Zero Waste School Certificate (Level 1). More importantly, it has instilled in our community the enduring value of protecting Mother Earth. We remain sincerely grateful to Earthtree for guiding and supporting us, and we pledge to carry forward this mission with determination and enthusiasm.

Villagers have no concept of “non-biodegradable” waste. Traditionally, the whole ethos of recycle restore and reuse is ingrained in the DNA of every villager. They actually beleived that styrofoam plates and plastic “pannis” would eventually compost-hence the littering of waste all over the villages and country side. My frustration was on how to spread awareness and communicate with our villagers the danger to our cattle and other wildlife of the Aravallis.
In 2021 Smita Ahuja of Earthtree came as an answer to our prayers. We jointly started Project Nirantaram to work towards making Mangar, Silakri, Dhauj, Sirohi and Alampur, 5 villages in Haryana we work in go “Zero Waste”.
With her simple logic, selfless attitude and Earthtree’s structured modules our trainee teachers and students have been educated on the importance of treating waste as a resource and tools implemented to give a lifecycyle to all categories of waste now getting generated in our villages and also how to make revenue from what we thought was waste. We are together reaching out to the village community to spread awareness and bring change.
Apart from the earnings from the waste , Earthtree has also introduced other revenue earning schemes like making Bioenzyme from waste citrus peels and items from paper mache’ using waste paper.
23 kudis (waste dumps in the village) have been since removed in the 5 villages.