Auroville’s spirit contains an integral ethos to live in harmony with the Earth by living an ecologically conscious lifestyle. This commitment to protecting our planet can be traced back to Auroville’s origin when “repair and reconstruct” were a necessity and living within your means was ideal. Many people and units in Auroville continue to make an effort to lower the amount of solid waste going to landfills in innovative ways including upcycling, recycling, composting, refusing, and more. Learn more about the projects transforming our relationship to waste using the guide below.
Use the following form to make a general donation to waste initiatives in Auroville. Your contribution will be distributed according to need.
Auroville Cleanup Group
Auroville Cleanup Group works to keep Auroville roadsides, community areas and neighbouring villages clear of discarded waste. They raise awareness of the unpleasantness and danger of environmental pollution and demonstrate that when we work together we can deal with what looks like an overwhelming problem and set an inspiring example others can follow.
Contact: avlakshmanan@gmail.com
ALoT Auroville Library of Things
ALoT, an initiative of Earth&Us, is an experiment in collaborative consumption. Residents offer up items not being used so that others in the community can borrow them on a short-term basis. Considerable sharing already takes place in Auroville but ALoT offers systematic organization in order to bring the practice to its full potential. It is a space where under used things can be shared and utilized, where abundance can be felt and accessed, and where generosity and joy reverberate.
Contact: alot@auroville.org.in
Auroville Papers
Auroville Papers was established in 1996 and is made up of an international team of 34 workers from Auroville and the surrounding bioregion. Auroville Papers creates handmade paper out of cotton rags, vegetable fibers, and recycled paper. They create stationary, jewelry, flowers, and a great variety of works of art. Old notebooks are upcycled into new ones, saving trees and reducing waste. Auroville Papers aims to make sustainable use of the environment as a manner of expressing gratitude towards it by respecting nature and maintaining firm commitment to producing ecologically-sound products.
Contact: aurovillepapers@auroville.org.in
Eco Service
Auroville’s EcoService manages solid waste for approximately 2/3 of the town’s population. An EcoService team collects waste from households, communities, guest houses, restaurants and units, and another team processes it at a sorting shed in Kottakarai. Waste is then either sold to recycling dealers, or landfilled at the Auroville landfill.EcoService’s primary goal is to minimize as much as possible the impact of Auroville’s waste on the environment. It pursues this goal by recycling as much of the community’s waste as it can, and landfilling as little as possible.
Contact: ecoservice@auroville.org.in
Free Store
As old as Auroville, the Freestore is as the name suggests, a store where things are free. A descendant of early Auroville’s barter and exchange system, the Freestore now offers a range of new and pre-loved clothes, crockery, books and music to any Aurovilian who needs, yes, for free. Customers choose what they want, leave their name and a list of items taken, say thanks, and walk out the door. The place is a blessing for many of the Aurovilians who live, as honorary voluntary workers, on a very basic maintenance and can ‘go shop’ this way.
Let’s Talk Trash
Let’s Talk Trash is a volunteer activity initiated by Bharathi to clear the most popular roadways in Auroville of litter. Tamil Aurovilian youth invite the community to join them on two Sunday mornings a month to spend a couple of hours picking up trash. At the conclusion of their work, they enjoy breakfast at a local tea shop together. One of the challenges they face is that people and businesses have started leaving their trash on the roadways in anticipation of the volunteers coming to pick up trash which seems to violate the spirit of the initiative: to discourage littering.
Contact: letstalktrash@auroville.org.in
MGEcoduties
MGEcoduties was established in 2011 to develop clean, all-natural, non-toxic, fully biodegradable products. Their products are crafted using unique Probiotic Technology that utilizes certified probiotic mother culture. The project initially began with a household cleaning line but has since expanded to wide range of personal wellness products. Their products are not only completely natural, but are more effective than the current chemicals as they are naturally microbial in nature.
Contact: mgecoduties@auroville.org.in
OK Upcycling Studio
Upcycling Studio Auroville (USAv) was founded in June 2015. The open space focuses on innovation, invention, creation and education from waste to product. The studio’s goal is to creatively reduce the waste in Auroville’s community through the practice of reduce, reuse, recycle, and upcycle. Their products are for sale as well as their open-source designs as the goal is for others to replicate their upcycling.
Contact: okupcyclingstudio@auroville.org.in
Pour Tous Distribution Center
Pour Tous Distribution Centre – one of the “Prosperity Services” – acts as a distribution centre for a wide range of food items, ready-made meals to take away and other goods supplied in kind (without any direct exchange of money, based on a cooperative participation) to Aurovilians, Newcomers and volunteers.
Contact: ptdc@auroville.org.in
Small Steps
Small Steps project was initiated and funded by Upasana Design Studio, Auroville. It was launched on Earth Day, 22nd April 2007. From the design end, Small Steps created, tested and improved the prototype of environment friendly bags. The project has also designed multiple posters, brochures to raise awareness about the benefits of using cloth bags in general. The bags have achieved great success and we want to make this product reach out to more people.
Contact: smallsteps@upasana.in
Tulita Studio
Tulita is an upcycled, slow fashion brand started by Camille in 2019 after moving from France to Auroville and finding inspiration in the town’s eco-conscious ethos. Tulita specializes in women’s fashion and aims to reduce textile pollution by recreating new clothes and accessories from discarded items. In Sanskrit, Tulita means Balanced. Tulita as studio and brand works towards conscious, balanced, and healthy fashion that respects both humans and the Earth.
Contact: tulita.upcycling@auroville.org.in
WasteLess
WasteLess is a non-profit educational research organization that develops innovative educational programs for children between 6 to 15 years of age. WasteLess does tremendous work educating and empowering the next generation to live a less wasteful lifestyle. Their resources have been used in the curriculum of schools throughout Tamil Nadu and they offer programs for purchase.
Contact: wasteless@auroville.org.in
WellPaper
The primary goal of WELLPaper is to empower local village women with skills to build, manage and maintain self-sustaining units. The women receive training, guidance and support in product development, market and team management, and personal development. All Wellpaper products are hand-made and eco-friendly, transforming recycled newspaper into art and accessories. Over time, the women’s groups have developed into autonomous units, making their own business decisions towards their goal of financial independence. Today, some of the WELL women are conducting the training workshops themselves to reach other local women and small business units.
Contact: wellpaper@auroville.org.in
