Kern Agarwal and Ranjani Prabakaran, a couple from Chennai left their daily routine jobs to plunge full-time into organic farming. They took an initiative to promote organic farming in India because in a country like India where pollution levels are touching the sky, and soil quality is degrading every day (causing an adverse effect on crops).

Studies show that a lot of food that is passed on from rural to urban India ends up as solid and sewage waste. It is essential to switch to organic farming because as compared to a longer time conventionally grown food, organic food is much richer in nutrients. Organic farming enhances the nutrients of the soil which is passed on to the plants and animals.

They set up The Urban Farmers, a start-up incubated at Loyola Institute of Business Administration (LIBA) which later led to the creation of Carbon Loops, an initiative that works with large institutions to segregate waste, create compost and then send it back to organic farmers, in a bid to close the loop in the food industry. This was also a bid to promote farming on rooftops in the city. “It was during the course of our work here that we realized that a lot of food that is passed on from rural to urban India ends up as solid and sewage waste. The question that then arose was ‘How do we close this loop and reduce pollution?’ All of that waste could instead be put to much better use such as composting,” says Agarwal.

They've been asked frequently, "Why quit your steady jobs to do something which half of the country doesn't even understand?". To this Kern simply replies, "The point is, we enjoy what we do. We want to make a difference and envision clean cities and fertile fields. We’d like to see how much organic waste we can divert from landfills and encourage as many farmers as possible to take up organic farming”. They have also interacted with farmers across the state. The duo even convinced several farmers to turn to organic farming.

Lately, they've started setting up compost pit and biogas plants. The biogas plant on the campus is to process food waste, while the compost pit is for the garden.  They also want students to get involved in the process as they do a great job in spreading the word, especially on social media these days. They're trying to bring together various stakeholders such as restaurant associations, residential complexes and groceries to make them aware of the need for waste management. They are connected to large institutions with larger reach so that they reach a larger audience.

Studies show that calorific value of Indian solid waste is between 600 and 800 Kcal/Kg and the density of waste is between 330 and 560 Kg/m3. Waste collection efficiency in Indian cities ranges from 50% to 90%. Out of the total municipal waste collected, on an average 94% is dumped on land and 5% is composted. This is what makes it more important to act and be a responsible citizen.

Carbon Loops also plans to conduct workshops on waste segregation and composting which can be done at homes. The basic thing that people can do is separating waste while dumping it in the bin.