Hemal Patel - Urban Soil

Hemal Patel - Urban Soil

Years active: 5 years

Innate Need for Sustainable Living

Hemal Patel, took the crucial step of quitting the ‘life in a single cubicle’ to remold it in every available open space under the sky and find his true 'Karmabhoomi'. There started a journey dedicated to the sustainable ways of life which can be described readily as ‘down- to- earth’.

Being an outdoor person and a passionate nature being, he was drawn towards farming and soil well-being. Next step was to take the familiar nuances of wet composting and soil nourishment techniques to the masses and motivate them to start their own terrace and balcony gardens. He believed that this would take the sustainability practices to each nook and corner and actively help to build a society which thinks in terms of sustainable development rather than just ‘development’.

Initiating the Sustainable Lifestyle Movement

With social networking applications at hand, Hemal started interacting with few interested members regarding the varied sustainability practices and techniques. In the process he connected with diverse environmentalists working in related fields covering various aspects of sustainability. This is when he thought of bringing them together under a vibrant community called as ‘Sustainable Living’. And now it is not a surprise that the group has grown strong with 2000+ community members who are aligned to the sustainable ways at different levels. The group has become a trustworthy and stable bridge for linking the sustainable farmers to the aware consumers for infinite potential of both.

Services

• 2-day Terrace Gardening Workshops to educate the masses about sustainable terrace gardening using kitchen waste as manure for growing day-to-day vegetables.
• Through this program urban citizens would be relieved from the pesticide/toxins laden vegetables present in the conventional market.
• 1000+ citizens of Pune and Mumbai have explored their Green Thumb potential and actively share, discuss and encourage each other through a Whatsapp Food Gardening community of Urban Gardeners.
• The entire initiative is termed as Annarai which means “Food for every living being in urban social living”.