The more I travel, the more passionate I feel about responsible travel, veganism, wildlife conservation, environment protection and women empowerment.
I’ve partnered with organisations whose work I admire, and leveraged my travel blogging and social media skills to drive the following “passion projects”:
REFORESTATION
A project to bring back our forests in Uttarakhand – fighting climate change while creating alternate livelihoods for rural Himalayan communities.
(2019 – present)
About the project: Collaborated with Alaap – an Uttarakhand-based, female-led non profit – to support their reforestation efforts in some of Uttarakhand’s most backward districts. Using the revolutionary Miyawaki Method, these native mixed forests grow upto 30 times denser and 10 times faster than conventional forests and believed to have greater carbon sequestration potential.
- Raising INR 1,50,000 to grow two mixed native forests in Uttarakhand, each with 300+ trees across 25 species, while creating temporary employment for 15-17 locals.
- Channeling funds towards Alaap’s reforestation efforts through the sale of sustainable travel-inspired clothing.
I LOVE SPITI
An initiative to create awareness and alternatives for plastic bottled water in the Spiti Valley of India, with an aim to reduce non-biodegradable plastic waste.
(2017 – present)
“I Love Spiti” – How Travellers Must Help Save India’s Surreal Himalayan Desert.
About the project: Partnered with Spiti Ecosphere and fellow travellers/volunteers to fight the plastic bottled water (packaged drinking water) menace in India’s Trans-Himalayan region.
- Built a lifesize “I Love Spiti” art installation using discarded plastic bottles to encourage travellers to pledge to say no to plastic bottles.
- Held the world’s highest Instagram Meet to highlight the issue and discuss solutions.
- Began the conversation with local businesses to provide alternatives to bottled water.
- Partnered with LifeStraw to experiment with public refill stations across Spiti.
- Project featured on Hindustan Times, The Better India and Scoopwhoop.
VOICES OF MUNSIARI
A project to enable rural Himalayan storytellers to connect directly with the world through Instagram – resulting in India’s first Instagram channel run entirely by a village community.
(2016 – present)
About the project: Collaborated with Himalayan Ark and Maati Sangathan to create @voicesofmunsiari – India’s first Instagram channel to be run independently by a rural village community.
- Trained potential photographers from rural Uttarakhand villages to use Instagram constructively.
- Held a Photography and Instagram Workshop in Munsiyari to encourage more budding photographers.
- Crowd-sourced smartphones to enable more creative minds to share their stories using Instagram.
- Currently planning a photography exhibition to showcase the work of rural Himalayan photographers.
- Project featured on Times of India, Conde Nast Traveller, Homegrown, The Better India and Business Insider.
VEGAN TRAVEL
An attempt to shed light on animal cruelty, and share the joys and challenges of travelling as a vegan.
(2013 – present)
Why I Turned Vegan – And What It Means for My Travel Lifestyle.
About the project: Since I decided to embrace veganism in my diet and lifestyle, I feel passionate about spreading awareness about the plight of animals that regularly make it to our dinner tables, wardrobes and travel attractions.
- Wrote stories about veganism for:
- National Geographic Traveller India (Magazine): Chronicles of a Vegan Traveller
- National Geographic Traveller India: How a Chicken Bus in Nicaragua Changed the Way I Travel
- Travel+Leisure India: A Vegan Trip Through Meat-Loving Countries
- FirstPost: Vegan Movement Makes Strides in India
- GQ: 10 greatest vegan meals in the world you should try, even if you’re not vegan
- Partnered with Welfare for Animals in Goa and leveraged my social media channels to raise INR 1,00,000 for their animal rescue sanctuary.
- Spoke at the Ahimsa Fest (Mumbai’s annual vegan festival), the Vegan India Conference and other reader events to raise awareness.
- Initiated “VeganSundayChallenge” on Instagram Stories to talk about veganism in the context of travel, life, the environment and our health.
- Currently approaching widely-read publications for stories around vegan travel and the vegan lifestyle.
SOLO TRAVELLER (ASIA) SERIES
A blogging series to share the journeys of intrepid solo travellers from across Asia – typically under-represented in the online solo travel space.
(2018 – present)
Meet the Courageous Indian Woman Travelling the World Solo – On a Wheelchair!
PARTNER WITH ME
If you’d like to collaborate with me to further one of the above causes, especially in a way that I can leverage my blogging and social media work, I would love to hear from you at shivyanath@gmail.com.
