Water campaign fetches student Forbes honour

BENGALURU: Environmentalist Garvita Gulhati, a 21-year-old student of PES University, was nominated for ‘Forbes 30 under 30 Asia 2021’.

After learning that millions of litres of water are wasted each year in India, left unsipped in glasses in restaurants, Garvita started her youth-led organisation.

The movement was meant to bring a paradigm shift in the mindsets and habits of people towards conservation of water.

The team ran campaigns, petitions and workshops, and reached 10 million people since its launch in 2015. After noticing that 14 million litres of water were going waste each year because of patrons leaving water in their glasses, Gulhati reached out to restaurant managers and urged them to fill just half the glass with water, unless the customer asks for more.

She started the #glasshalfull initiative when she was 15, and garnered support from National Restaurant Association of India (NRAI), an umbrella forum of about one lakh restaurants. The BTech student was inspired by her environmental studies teachers, she had told TNIE in 2019. “Youngest in the #ForbesUnder30 list of Social Entrepreneurs for Asia-Pacific 2021! Still can’t believe it! So grateful for everything this journey has taught me and to everyone who has supported us.

Excited for more,” she wrote on her social media handle, on being listed. In March, the Shawn Mendes Foundation also propagated Gulhati’s work, and how one can help conserve water. As per Forbes, Gulhati had also received the prestigious Diana Award in honour of the late Princess of Wales, last year.