15 Kgs of Waste Cleared with Children and Mahila Mandal — A Deeper Step into the Community at Karchi and Regdi

Something powerful unfolded at the schools of Karchi and Regdi recently. For a few days, the slope team had been reflecting on a critical question—how do we take Green Trails work beyond our treks and deeper into the communities we work with? That led us to a small but significant collaboration with the Mahila Mandal and the local school.

The process began with groundwork. There were initial conversations with the school principal—hesitations, back-and-forth discussions. But the team held on with persistence and clarity of intent. Eventually, the school opened its doors, and with it came the opportunity to meaningfully engage with the children.

Once the green light was in, the slope team came together—brainstorming, planning, and designing the session. Everything was anchored in the three core Green Trails values: sustainability, empathy, and transformation.

On the day of the engagement, Nilang, Ranveer, and Kavinaya led the facilitation. Around 60 students had gathered, and they were divided into three groups.

The first interaction was simple. The team asked:

• “What do you see around your village?”
• “What would you love to see?”

The answers were vivid—trees, animals, rivers. But one thing was missing: no one mentioned waste.

That silence became the team's entry point into a deeper conversation.

The team shifted the dialogue toward waste awareness—what it means, where it hides in plain sight, and how it affects places like theirs. There were no lectures. The conversation stayed simple, relatable, and rooted in the children's everyday life.

Following the discussion, the group stepped outside for a clean-up drive. Together, the children and the slope team collected 15 kilograms of waste from around the village. This was followed by a hands-on segregation game—designed to help children learn how to identify and sort waste in real-world scenarios.

As the energy began to dip, aam panna was passed around, and the group gathered for reflection. That’s when a short but impactful video on Delhi’s dumping ground was played.

The reaction was immediate. The room went still.

One child said, “If we don’t take care of our waste, our village will become like that too.”
Another added, “We won’t let this happen here.”

It was a raw moment of realisation—not just for the students, but for the team as well. It was a reminder of why Green Trails work matters, especially off the trail.

The session closed with a thank-you note to the school principal and the Mahila Mandal for their trust. The team also assured them that this was not a one-off event. This is a journey the slope team is committed to continuing alongside them.

A Look at the Larger Effort

This green sweep at Karchi is just a small part of something much bigger at Indiahikes. Similar community outreach efforts are happening across our slopes — in Uttarakhand, Sikkim, and Himachal. Because we’ve seen this time and again — real change doesn’t come from one-off cleanups. It happens when local communities are involved, when they take the lead, and when there’s a slow but steady shift in behaviour and systems. That’s the kind of change we’re working towards.

Because what we do off the trail is just as important as what we do on it. And this day was a reminder of that.