‘Do work without expecting a reward’, is the core philosophy of Isha Sadhguru’s philanthropic endeavours. This is amply underlined in its Project GreenHands (PGH), whose core philosophy Sadhguru explains thus: “Every society needs individuals who will go on planting mango trees without thinking whether they will get to eat the fruit or not.”
Through PGH, Isha Foundation aims to increase the green cover in the country. Doing this automatically restores soil strength and health, retains rainwater and groundwater and helps maintain ecological balance. To this end, the programme plans and executes several sapling planting initiatives across the South of India, in both urban and rural settings. Isha Foundation works closely with schools, colleges, NGOs, companies and Government bodies for its initiatives. The ultimate aim is to ‘green’ Tamil Nadu to the extent that it becomes a glowing example of what it means to take responsibility for the future by saving the ecology.
Though PGH, Isha Foundation has planted over 2 million saplings and is pleased that over 2 million volunteers have been associated with the programme till date. PGH holds a Guinness World Record for planting 8,52,587 saplings in three days!
Isha Foundation recognises that for any programme to have a lifelong impact, the foundation for its learning must begin from a young age. Just like its noble endeavour to impart quality education to children in the rural areas (Isha Vidhya), PGH plants the seeds of an abiding love for the environment through an innovative school project. The Foundation started the Green School project to underline the principles of environmental balance, knowledge of soil conditions vis-à-vis water, sunlight and manure, and how environmental awareness plays a crucial role in life. The Green School imparts practical knowledge and is spearheading a Green School movement today.
Similarly, Isha Foundation runs ‘Trees for Life’ an agro-initiative to support farmers’ efforts. It plants economically beneficial saplings on farmlands to help farmers during future distress. The produce of these trees then helps farmers during dire agricultural crises, when conventional crops don’t grow. And supplementing these efforts and hoping that the message of ecological sensitivity reaches far and wide, Isha Foundation also runs plant nurseries that are operated by PGH volunteers. The nurseries run on donated lands and help create well-nurtured saplings that can be planted far and wide and help make the country a greener, more beautiful place to live in.
