'Tieedi': Marching Towards Greener Ways !

The founder of Tieedi, Utsow Pradhan, quit his corporate career to repair his ancestral land in Darjeeling, which had become a landfill. He is establishing sustainable villages, revitalizing regional customs, and contributing to the restoration of the delicate Himalayan ecosystem through zero-waste projects, eco-trails, and community engagement. "Take It Easy, Easy Does It" is shortened to “Tieedi.”You are met with lush slopes covered in tea plants, a rainbow of flowers, and deciduous trees as you travel up to Darjeeling from the closest train station or airport in Siliguri, West Bengal. The National Highway, which crosses the Rohini settlement and then climbs steeply, is flanked by forests. As the weather dresses itself in cooler tones, the Japanese cedar trees (Cryptomeria japonica), known locally as dhuppi, add to the landscape. Tiny communities of wooden and concrete homes reverberate with joy, laughter, and smiles that blend with the noises of the natural world. The sound of birds chirping contributes to the melody as the many streams meander through the foothills of the Himalayas. As idyllic as this may appear, a terrible plague is endangering the environment and, as a result, many people's means of subsistence. The sporadic plastic packages, cigarette butts, bottles, and other non-biodegradable debris that dries up the landscape's vivid colors are signs of the disease.In order to check this scourge and eventually begin working on a cure, Utsow Pradhan, 43, quit his job at an ed-tech business in 2015 and returned to his ancestral land. By 2016, the area that had been a brick manufacturing unit had been transformed into a landfill.  A step in the direction of sustainability: Mission Green  (Source: Google Images) Initially, the goal was deeply personal—Utsow wanted to grow his own food and explore natural building techniques independently. However, as they encountered the pervasive issue of plastic pollution, they began clearing the undergrowth. Over time, the site was transformed into an eco-resort equipped with composting and waste segregation facilities. It now features several mud-and-bamboo homes, frequented by visitors who support Tieedi's various sustainability projects.Utsow, who grew up in Kurseong, a small town 40 kilometers from Darjeeling, says the changes he witnessed over the years motivated him to explore how development and sustainability could go hand in hand. He recalls seeing over fifty plastic piles along just a one-kilometer stretch of road, highlighting the urgency of addressing these challenges.A Difficult Pursuit Up Ahead ~ (Source: Google Images) Utsow started by gathering and classifying the site's plastic garbage. But it was a difficult task that still persists today. They began removing plastic from beneath the ground. Even though they have eliminated about 15,000 bags of garbage from here, they are still gathering up plastic after eight years.Utsow was profoundly affected by this experience, and he quickly expanded his zero-waste projects to three nearby communities. "The dumping of plastic waste gradually stopped after we went zero waste, which was just a few months into operations," he explains. Utsow mentioned a one-kilometer span that includes Naya Basti. Steep pathways sculpted into stairs connect the houses, and a new sense of tranquility permeates the air. It is surrounded by verdant woodlands and a little waterfall that cascades into a brook that was choked with massive plastic waste only a few years ago. Tin jars are used as dustbins in every part of the village. A group of kids from a nearby school recently visited, according to Riwash Tamang, who assists with gathering the trash and transporting it to the segregation facility. Three years have passed since he started working.Bottom Line ~ (Source: Google Images)  According to Utsow, Tieedi's assistance is also helping in reviving the bamboo sector, which the public is slowly forgetting. Additionally, bamboo is used extensively in the structures built in Tieedi. We should remember what he says: ‘Nature is significant and unchangeable. We have to learn to coexist peacefully with it.’