I’ve a confession to make about one thing I’ve been doing over the previous 10 years: I’ve diligently separated my moist and dry waste. What does that imply? Every thing that’s biodegradable, like meals scraps, goes in a single bin; all the pieces like paper or plastic goes to a different; and medical waste to the third bin. I’ve additionally been composting my moist waste, a mean of two kilos per day. This quantities to almost 2,800 kilos diverted from the landfill over 4 years.
So why is that this related to my journey at Cisco? Small actions like this may have an even bigger affect over time, and that has been strengthened throughout my time as a core workforce member of Cisco’s Inexperienced Group Community (GTN), an Inclusive Group at Cisco with 26 native chapters all over the world. At GTN, we envision a extra environmentally sustainable enterprise and world, empowering our workers to drive social and environmental change at work and of their properties.
How did I get right here? My very own sustainability journey began as a toddler.
My Private Sustainability Journey
My earliest reference to nature began at my ancestral house in India, the place I grew up in a small city referred to as Vasai. Our house had a yard with many timber, and my dad beloved gardening. Most of my summers had been spent enjoying surrounded by nature.
However my true calling in the direction of nature started once I moved to Bengaluru. Social media launched me to pages like Indian Birds and Sanctuary Asia, the place individuals posted their pictures of birds and wildlife. That’s once I determined to take up hen pictures as a interest. Visiting varied lakes in Bengaluru and birding hotspots in my hometown and different locales in India, I’ve now documented roughly 300-350 species of birds.
The turning level got here throughout the COVID pandemic. As a result of lockdown restrictions, my visits to the lakes stopped, and so did my hen pictures, however the itch to attach with nature had not gone away. I intently documented nature round my house, and when the restrictions eased a bit, I went to a close-by lake to doc bugs on the path. Over time, I continued documenting the insect biodiversity and even printed pictures in a wildlife journal and wildlife pictures competitions, together with profitable a contest on World Wildlife Day that showcased the pervasive affect of plastic and waste in our surroundings.
I found that I needed to make use of my pictures and experiences within the wild to inform tales that create awe about nature amongst individuals. I began collaborating with a non-governmental group (NGO), Thicket Tales, which was organizing webinars for residents on varied subjects associated to wildlife and sustainability. I additionally began giving talks on biodiversity to colleges and communities and, for the primary time, to an organization – Dell Applied sciences. I gave a sequence of 11 periods to Dell Applied sciences on various subjects associated to biodiversity and sustainability.
Involvement with Cisco’s Inexperienced Group Community in India
Working as a Consulting Engineer in CX-Skilled Companies, I’ve been a part of the Service Supplier (SP) Mobility workforce engaged on deployment of mobility networks for patrons like T-Cellular, Reliance Jio, TIM Brazil, and extra. In mid-2023, once I was looking for a stretch task associated to program administration, I stumbled upon a gap for the World Inexperienced Group Community (GTN) Schooling Lead. On the time, I didn’t get that position, however the GTN management workforce requested me to restart the chapter in Bengaluru, which had turn into dormant since COVID. At the moment, I’m honored to hitch the Inexperienced Group World Management because the Schooling Lead.
“Being a part of the Inexperienced Group has deepened my dedication to driving impactful change, turning consciousness into motion, and provoking a tradition of accountability in all spheres of my life.” – Shiju Joseph, Govt Sponsor, Inexperienced Group – Bengaluru Chapter
Within the first yr of the Bengaluru chapter’s reinception, we engaged with 16 wildlife conservation and sustainability NGOs, elevating ~$29K USD with 3,200 Cisconians collaborating in varied occasions like webinars, documentary screenings, nature walks, biodiversity censuses, tree plantings, cleanup drives, and extra. I’m proud that folks have reconnected with nature by way of our varied engagements. As well as, after we began the chapter, we onboarded many wildlife and sustainability NGOs to Cisco’s Benevity platform, which permits workers to simply donate or volunteer with a neighborhood group.
At the moment, I’m organizing periods on various subjects specializing in environmental points and tales from varied geographies, and I’m proud to work with fellow Cisconians who share the same ardour for nature.
“Being a part of the Inexperienced Group has surrounded me with a supportive neighborhood that consistently conjures up and motivates me to undertake new, sustainable practices, making nature and sustainability a core worth in my life.” – Manjari Vishnoi, co-lead, GTN Bengaluru Chapter
Imaginative and prescient and Objectives
Wanting towards the longer term, I need to introduce hackathons to assist NGOs deal with their tech objectives utilizing experience from Cisco. I additionally hope to introduce Cisco’s services portfolio from a sustainability perspective, with talks from Cisco specialists engaged on such initiatives.
It will be nice to see fellow Cisconians take up a minimum of one exercise of their each day lives that contributes to a extra sustainable trigger. Solely after we incorporate sustainability into our each day lives will there be a optimistic change within the pure world we dwell in.
Involvement with GTN has meaningfully impacted my profession journey and private life. Working in a job that helps nature might turn into one thing I need to do for the remainder of my life. I imagine nature is one trigger price combating for as a result of it’s one factor people can’t thrive with out.
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