Vasudhalay World Environmental Association

We operate out of a house in Khadak Ali, which is part of Pandare. It’s listed under Laxman Bala Bhise’s name because that’s where the main office space is set up. It is basically just a room in a regular home. Being in a place like Maharashtra-413115 means we are surrounded by fields and a lot of open space. The association started because we wanted to do something about the environment right here where we live. You won't find any shiny signs or corporate branding on our door. It’s just a house number, 6/150, and some chairs on the porch. We spend a lot of time walking around the village or sitting under the trees talking to farmers. The sun gets really hot in the middle of the day, so things slow down quite a bit. We don't have a big staff, just a few people from the neighborhood who care about the soil and the water. Sometimes we have to move the meetings outside if there are too many people for the small room. It’s a very local way of doing things. We don't really use computers for everything; there are still plenty of notebooks and hand-written lists lying around. It feels right to be doing environmental work from a village base rather than some high-rise in a city. It keeps us connected to the ground, literally. People just drop by whenever they feel like it, usually after they finish their work in the fields for the day.