A confluence of the Banyan City (Vad) and the environment that it sustains (Vatavaran) - Vadaavaran Collective is a student-led organization that, through its own distinctive methods, helps in the upcycling of food waste in Vadodara. A menace in society, food waste has given rise to landfills and has substantially increased carbon emissions. From its inception in October 2020, the organization claimed that it had helped in turning down the amount of carbon emissions in the city by five tonnes until last month. The project includes collecting food waste, generating compost, and later using the compost as manure in gardening activities or for everyday purposes. Gigatonne Challenge, a global initiative to address climate change, prompted college students and young professionals from Vadodara to kickstart this project. While the project initially had 10-12 core members, the collective grew to approximately 50 volunteers over time. In its infancy, the initiative was started by collecting

Author-Raveena