City urban farmer recognised by National Geographic

Vani Murthy has been called a changemaker by the channel for her efforts to promote composting and zero-waste lifestyle

Vani Murthy is the only urban farmer from Bengaluru on the list of environmental changemakers in the ‘One for Change’ campaign by the National Geographic India channel.

The already-released episode talks about Vani’s journey in the composting world and her interest in terrace gardening and sustainable living as a whole. “When I first started composting in 2007, I failed miserably,” the 60-year-old tells Metrolife. But those failures didn’t discourage her. “When you understand how much produce we waste and how much of our food waste can be reused, it encourages you to lead a sustainable life. For me, composting is the rent I pay for living on this planet,” she says.

She aims to spread the importance of composting through her social media presence, which has gone from strength to strength.

Fond of documenting her life through pictures, she started posting details about her zero-waste lifestyle on Facebook. “But, now I have fully moved to Instagram. It was difficult to maintain two social media accounts at the same time. I’m very fond of Instagram and the format of reels,” she says.

She shoots and edits her videos herself and from 3,000-odd followers before the pandemic, the number has reached an encouraging 2,38,000, making her a popular zero-waste influencer.

“They are simple videos but I use music, such as jazz and rock tracks from the 70s and 80s, and include text, to add character to the visuals,” Vani says about her online content.

She doesn’t want to monetise her videos. “My social media growth has been very organic. I don’t do paid collaborations or even use hashtags. The audience seems to relate to my content and that’s satisfying,” she
opines.

Vani hopes more people take up composting in the city. “Ever since the pandemic, I have got positive responses from a lot of youngsters. It’s a simple task that can change your life. You begin to appreciate organic food and healthy living. You become more aware of what you’re putting into your body and consume more nutritious food,” she explains.

Composting made easy

Vani Murthy says the Internet is a great place to learn composting from. She recommends @Vasuki Iyengar on YouTube, @Wastelesspro, and @Zerowasteadda on Instagram, and swachgraha.in for more tips and tricks.