E-Paper
#WorldEnvironmentDay: Torchbearers of sustainable living
How Lucknowites from different walks of life are doing their bit to save the environment. The focus is on us now....
With the city known for its green belt, people here seem to have understood exceedingly well the importance of sustainable living.
Team HT City finds people and places that promote the idea and make sure their lifestyle is environment-friendly.
Working in the field of sustainable wear for the last three decades, designer-fabricator and founder of AH Institute of Fashion Technology, Asma Hussain says, “Back in 1994 I came up with an idea of bringing sustainable, recycled clothing into mainstream. Since then, every year I come up with a collection totally based on such fabrics and present it on ramp. Lots of people think that only thick cottony fabric is khadi which is not the truth as any handspun-handwoven fabric is same. My contribution has been to create awareness, make people wear and spend money on such fabrics as they are not only sustainable but also extremely exclusive.”
Another city-based fashion designer Anju Narain has made an extra effort to use only hand-woven fabric and design them with handicraft work. “Fabric and handicraft are one aspect, but we also work on zero waste, good wages, recycling of left-over items to reducing carbon footprint. We at Myra, continue to be known for upcycling old garments in contemporary ways. It’s nostalgic and puts old fabric to best use and enhances craft,” she shares.
Places that bring forward the idea of eating in the open air among trees and using only biodegradable cutlery items are surely finding their way into Lucknowites’ life.
Away from the city’s hustle and bustle, a restaurant, over two decades old, has been built close to nature and greenery. “We know no other way. Veggies we use are from organic farms, water is served in glass bottles as no plastic is used or allowed on the premises. And trust me, people love the idea and we never had issues in making our customers understand any of it. So, it means that people are more than happy to be part of our recycling drive and support our way of serving,” says food department head, chef Sagar Punn from Pack ‘N’ Chew Restaurant.
To come close to nature and adapt to the environment friendly means, Prabhjot Dhami of The Fresh Factory switched to no plastic packaging four years back, established a herb garden and sources other items directly from growers.
“As a restaurant I guess the best way is to get rid of plastic for which we switched to no-plastic packaging. Since we are also into hydroponic farming business, we grow items on our terrace or source items from people whom we have helped in establishing hydroponic farms,” he tells.
Such delicacies are finding a place on the restaurant menu. Chef Suraj Nishad, who works at a Renaissance Hotel in Lucknow says, “We get our chefs to adapt to modern ways. During G20 and Investor Summit we had a lot of patrons who were into vegan diet, so we kept a menu handy for them with no-dairy products providing them substitutes besides a range of millets.”
Chef Lalit Dutta, food and beverage manager at hotel Clarks Avadh adds, “Millets are working well at our catering and restaurant menu. We are adding options in vegan food as we know we are regularly getting such clients.
