Planet Ninjas - The Birth

Planet Ninjas was born out of shared enthusiasm for sustainability and climate change combined with worry over the plight of our planet. As we read more and more about issues related to climate change and a global lack of political action and leadership to save our planet, we decided it’s time to take action

We hope to build a community of Planet Ninjas who influence & motivate everyone around them with their understanding of the earth and its resources. Here’s our little introduction to tell you how diverse our backgrounds are and how differently we approach sustainability yet our goal is common.

Shyamoli:

My journey into sustainability started very early in my life. Though now, in my late 20’s, I think of it as more of my journey to being mindful and compassionate: towards other humans, towards yourself, towards the planet and animals. And I think the further along I get in this journey, the more compassion I feel for everything around me.

In school, my favourite subject was biology. For me biology was anything and everything about living things and that included the planet. Our living, breathing and thriving planet. During an exchange program called “Gardens for Life” in 8th grade, teachers from my school, a teacher from Germany and from the UK all went to each other's schools. It was my first dive into the world of gardening, farming and experiencing our “green” planet. Ever since I’ve been conscious of my impact on the planet the way I understood them. Till date, I think my biggest action to compensate for my carbon and water footprint has been turning vegan. Food is my passion, my profession and my everything. Giving up dairy (milk and cheese) felt like a big deal to me (then, doesn’t seem like anything now), but I knew it was the most impactful action I could do in my daily life.

I’ve always been a lover of the outdoors. Ever since I can remember, I’ve chosen the countryside over cities and love everything about it. Living for two years in midwest small city America showed me how beautiful your everyday surroundings can be if you take care of it. Having always lived in cities, it was a concept I wanted to bring back to my country, to my city. The only way to do that is by educating, inspiring and influencing more people to protect and care for their own home. It’s important to show people the benefits of breathing clean air, having access to clean water, having open spaces for humans and animals to move around.

My approach to sustainability has always been very ground level, “starts in your own home” kind and is about being in the mindset of being mindful and resourceful. I can’t wait to go on this journey with Disha, the Planet Ninja community and explore the positive impact we make along the way. It’s going to be fun!

Disha:

I used to be an environment-loving, leading clean-up drives kinda kid back in my school days. But, as I was adulting, I don’t know how and when I adopted the consumerist ways of our society without a question! If I’m being honest, I was NOT at all environmentally conscious even at the start of 2018 - imagine a shopaholic, Uber over bus kinda person, doesn’t recycle, buys takeout food every other day and so on. But as I read more, I learned more about global warming and climate change. Even then, this new knowledge did not drive any substantial changes in my ways of life as I was already so comfortable in my consumeristic habits (I still struggle many times to be a more thoughtful shopper!). I did try to reduce my use of plastic, but just enough to not feel guilty.

Flashback to March 2019 when I read a news article - “Whale that starved to death had record 40kg of plastic waste in its stomach”. That hit me like a hurricane! 40kgs! 80lbs!! That is an INSANE amount of plastic!!

After that news, there was a flood of news articles over the next months with more whales, turtles, cows and numerous other sea and land animals dying at the hands of man-made plastic pollution. Seeing that news and pictures, I became more aware of the plastic I unconsciously used in my daily life (especially the single-use plastics that sneak up on you!).

Now there was no going back from there; the only way forward for me was that of mindfulness and sustainability. Being a biologist by background, I definitely read a lot about the horrifying scientific and biological implications of climate change. But then I also started reading about climate policies, activism and followed the work of young activists like Greta Thunberg, Varshini Prakash, Isra Hirsi and Lily Platt to name a few. Seeing these well-informed children driving climate action inspired me to not only take the onus as an adult but to value how important spreading awareness is for community-level changes. I tried to go for science/climate marches, volunteer for beach cleanups, took up backyard composting, roped my roommates and friends along. Small changes over time for the past one year and on-going! I really believe, if I can do it then anyone can!! :)