The main beneficiaries of the food include children, women, elderly and specially-abled people. “This will get them out of the poverty cycle in the long-run. We gave them our ready incenses and they gave us almost 500 kg waste flowers,” reveals Ankit, who has also used waste flowers from Rajnikanth’s daughter Soundarya’s wedding in February 2019. At the same time, thousands of Indians sleep hungry every night. With her towering initiative, Srishti has collected food from thousands of weddings and assured that she contributes to society and couples to have a minimal waste wedding day. We have temperature control vans and hygienic containers,” she reveals. If we distribute that on street then it’s more like begging, and we intend to give food as a motivation,” she informs. We only collected books because we both love reading,” he adds.Recycling the flowers collected from weddingsUtensils for changeWedding waste is not restricted to food and flowers. While Amit may be among the few who are environmentally conscious, most Indian weddings still contribute significantly to food and other waste.

These discarded petals go to waterways and harm marine life and the environment. “We do proper quality checks before collecting food and distributing the food. We have been collecting food for a long time. “I got married during the day so that we wouldn’t have to install lights and fans and waste electricity. We use pure essential oils to make it. The incenses are given as a gift to all the guests as a token of memory. “At times, we collect more than 1500 kg plastic and if it is lying on the fields, imagine how terrible the implications can be. And recycling somewhat feels like helping people to have nature-friendly wedding,” he adds. Case in point: 4000 kilos of garbage that was left behind at a pristine hill station in Uttarakhand after a grand wedding ceremony of two sons of South Africa-based businessmen.. Talking about the process, she explains that they have a dedicated team, which only works for weddings, and there are proper checks involved.

Plastic contribute to environmental waste in a big way. “The plastic that we collect is not dirty, it is fresh and can be used again.Meals with LoveSrishti Jain, the co-founder of Feeding India has served over 20 million people in the last five years with the food collected from various hi-profile weddings across 75 cities in India. So far, Ankit has catered more than 15 weddings and according to him, he connects only with clients who are eco-conscious. “About one-fifth of the food served at weddings and social gatherings is discarded. Ankit’s initiative is not just helping to stop the flower waste to go to landfill and waterways but also helping women fixed pump Injection Molding Machine with livelihoods in Kanpur, Tirupati and Andhra Pradesh. “They write inside the box that all the flowers used in this wedding will be repurposed.When Amit Kalla, a poet and painter from Jodhpur, decided to get hitched, he made sure that his wedding ceremony contributed very minimally to environmental waste. And the food is given as an incentive for beneficiaries to come to school or skill development centres. All products are handmade by women workers and it is comfortable to work with people who are environment-friendly,” he says. It was then he decided to collect waste plastic utensils from most of the city’s five-star hotels hosting wedding ceremonies