The Punaravartan campaign to collect clay sludge after the immersion of clay Ganesh idols during the Ganesh Chaturthi campaign was initiated by eCoexist Foundation in 2020 during the Covid lockdown. In the years that followed the campaign has grown to ba launched in 8 cities across 4 states of India and collected over 25 tons of clay altogether that has been sent back to artisans for reuse. This work brought together nearly 30 organisations and also engaged the municipal corporations of Pune, Thane and Ahmedabad. The vision of Punaravartan is to achive a zero waste Ganesh festival where each material used in the festival is appropriately reused or recycled.
Raising environmental consciousness one life at a time
Our Vision
The eCoexist Foundation promotes the evolution of environmental consciousness and helps build a society that is deeply connected to Nature.
For human beings to live a creative, happy and fulfilled life they need to experience and understand their place in the ecosystem and to find ways to live in harmony with the living and nonliving environment that sustains their life. In modern society, and in urban environments, this deep connection has been severely damaged and has isolated humanity from its natural origins.
The eCoexist foundation aims to help restore this feeling of interconnectedness, by making people conscious about their food, their lifestyle choices and their dependence on the animal world.
It aims to invoke love and respect for Nature in the human heart and by doing this, to build societies and environments that are healthy, prosperous, content and harmonious. It creates communities that are built on the sharing of resources, where a self aware population lives in interdependent and symbiotic relationships, sensitive to the underprivileged and challenged members of the community.It does this using all the creative human potential available, through arts, design and beauty, and with an attitude of service.
The vision of eCoexist Foundation is to build a generation of self aware individuals that are highly conscious of their place in and their obligations to, the Natural world.
Eco-Campaigns
The environmental crisis we are faced with today is reflective of the inner crisis humanity is going through because of our growing disconnect with Nature. This is most clearly evident in the way we manage our waste, in the chemicals that have overtaken our lives and in the new diseases emerging in modern society. eCoexist aims to raise awareness about several of these environmental issues through the campaigns we run. Along side with educating and informing people, we also help them to integrate change into their own lives and choices.
Livelihoods
Since its inception, eCoexist has chosen to reach out to a wide range of underprivileged and challenged groups to create livelihoods for them through our eco products. We have worked with inmates at the Yerawada Prison in Pune, with women farmers in rural Karnataka and with special needs groups as well. Currently we are engaged with the women of the village of Ahwalwadi, Pune.
Punaravartan Clay Recycling Campaign
Sarvodaya and Sustainability
The Sarvodaya and Sustainability project is an effort of the eCoexist Foundation, to reflect on whether the principles of Sarvodaya, based in Indian philosophy and wisdom, may help us envision a more culturally appropriate approach to sustainability for Indian society.
This project has been funded by the Trusteeship Foundation, Mumbai.
While the modern environmental movement as led by the West, is rooted in the science of Climate Change, ancient Indian tradition, philosophy and culture had an integral approach the Nature and understood deeply humanity’s place in the ecosystem. This philosophy provided a wholistic view of Man as an expression of Nature and not separate from her. Mahatma Gandhi and Vinoba Bhave were active proponents of this philosophy and demonstrated in their own personal lifestyle and choices, a way in which our ecological footprints could be minimised and a sustainable society could emerge in the future.
The Sarvodaya movement has tremendous relevance to the quest for sustainability, offering solutions, thoughts and ideas that are way ahead of their time.
Womens Empowerment Ahwalwadi village
The eCoexist team started working in the village of Ahwalwadi in 2017 to enable the women there to earn an independent income. Teaching them how to stitch cloth bags for our campaign against plastic bags we started to work with their basic sewing skills. Gradually several trainings were held and we started to bring them bulk orders for cloth bags. Over 45 women have been trained by us and a steady flow if income has been established for these women. Our work there is now expanding to include a reading library for children, computer skills for the women, wet waste management etc. Eventually we will enable the women to set up their own enterprises when they would like to. Entrepreneurial training will also be offered along with hand holding.
Revive: Talks to Reconnect
Our Supporters
Contribute
Read more about ways in which you can participate in our vision…
