This man has always been passionate about the environment from as long as he can remember. It started out with a love for the natural world and evolved into an elaborate network of beliefs about the importance of safeguarding the environment. After working in a Dalit community for half a year, he decided to put his passion into practice, and co-founded a waste management company called Being Eco. Read on to know more about this young entrepreneur with a futuristic vision – Abhilash Salimath (Biography).
Building Toilets to Promote Hygiene in the Dalit Community
The idea behind this project was to bring about a change in the practices of the community members of this village. I wanted to shift the current practice of open defecation (ODF) to using an ecological sanitation facility. I lived with this community for 6 months and helped them build waterless toilets, since water was very scarce in the village. I also promoted the safety of women through the use of these toilets.
I think it was here that I realized that my true calling was to work in the socio-enviro sector. I wanted to work with communities to undo the damage that we humans have done to our planet. That’s how Being Eco was founded.
Abhilash Salimath – Co-Founder of Being Eco
This world needs a paradigm shift, and that will happen only if we realize that we are the force for change. I was tired of seeing piles of filth lying around everywhere. Everyone who was responsible for it—including me—threw their hands up in the air saying- “We pay taxes; it’s the government’s job to take care of this”. Realizing that wasn’t going to happen, I decided to do something about it on my own.
So I found someone who shared similar ideologies that I had and co-founded the company. Shortly, we were able to put a team together and work on different aspects of handling different projects. I officially launched “Being Eco” on the World Environment Day (June 5th of 2015), during an event hosted by the Karnataka Government. We’ve been operational for about a year now and have a small factory set up where our products are manufactured.
For the Love of Nature
We’ve worked with numerous apartments where we conduct waste management awareness workshops. We educate the various stakeholders in the apartments about the need to manage waste. We teach them how they can do it in a very cost-effective and environment-friendly manner.
We’ve installed composting units in a few apartments, hotels and colleges. We’ve also worked with schools and conducted environmental literacy programs to promote sustainability through gamification. We carry out hands-on workshops with the students and bring about capacity building where they come up with solutions for the environmental issues our society is facing.
Making a Clean Difference
We’re also working with a couple of towns in Karnataka and helping them with designing waste management systems for the entire town. We’re planning to cover the entire spectrum of sustainable solutions like rainwater harvesting, sewage treatment and solar in the near future.
We’d be like the one-stop-shop for organizations who want to use sustainable products and practices. The goal is to one day be able to look back at the journey and be glad that we’ve made a difference in the society.
Global Warming is for Real – How can Everyone Help?
“We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children” – Native American proverb.
Change starts at your own doorstep. The first thing we need to do as concerned citizens is to accept that we are responsible for what we throw. Segregation is the key to managing waste. Each stream of segregated waste can be treated differently and effectively. This way, we will definitely see a decline in the mountains of filth right at the corner of our street.
Burning and land-filling of waste is one of the significant contributors to global climate change (global warming). It is extremely vital for everyone to understand the consequence of creating and managing waste. Being sustainable is definitely the way forward. Without these measures, contaminated water, air and soil is going to plague our societies. Global warming is a reality and effective steps—however small—should be taken at the earliest to reduce its ill effects. A cleaner, greener environment is what will promote better health and safety of our society.