JanakPaltaMcGilligan (74), of Sanawadia, near Indore, converted her home into a totally sustainable residence powered by windmills. She teaches solar cooking to adolescents and rural residents, as well as zero-waste living principles.
JanakPaltaMcGilligan had an experience of a near-death when she was just a child.She underwent an open heart surgery when was only 17 years old.With a newfound regard for life, she resolved to devote her life to the well-being of Mother Earth.
When she was invited to Rio de Janeiro for the inaugural Earth Summit in 1992, she learnt about the world’s environmental challenges.
After her husband Jimmy McGilligan died in 2011, she relocated to their house in Sanawadia hamlet near Indore. And she fulfilled her pledge to the environment. The 74-year-old totally renovated and restored her house.
There is no power bill in a zero-waste household. The home, along with 50 other residences in the area, is powered by a windmill.
She also grows organic veggies, legumes, grains, and spices in her garden, which has 160 trees and 13 crops, and cooks the meals in solar cookers.
She also turns old newspapers into bricks and uses them to power the kitchen when the sun isn’t shining.
Janak is the founder and director of the non-profit ‘Jimmy McGilligan Centre for Sustainable Development’ in Indore, as well as the previous director of the Barli Development Institute for Rural Women.
More than 150,000 youngsters and 6,000 rural and tribal women from over 1,000 communities have been educated in solar cooking under her direction. Janakdidi, as she is affectionately known, welcomes visitors and provides sustainable living advice.
She was awarded the Padma Shri in 2015 for her achievements in social-work.
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