As the world becomes more conscious of ethical choices, Tech Mahindra Ltd., a global IT giant, has actively supported the movement to reduce animal suffering. By participating in Vegan Outreach’s campaign, the Green Tuesday Initiative, Tech Mahindra has made significant strides in promoting plant-based food options. Institutions play a crucial role in this mission, as they can make kinder commitments for the planet like reducing their use of animal products. Here’s a look at our shared journey and key milestones from 2021 to 2024.

Timeline of Tech Mahindra Ltd’s Green Tuesday Implementation milestones since the start of the collaboration in 2021. 

2021: The Beginning

August 15, 2021 – Tech Mahindra Hitech City Hyderabad Adopts Green Tuesday Initiative

Our journey with Tech Mahindra commenced in April 2021, with extensive discussions and planning. By August, our collaborative efforts bore fruit. On August 15th, 2021, Mr. C P Gurnani, Former CEO and MD of Tech Mahindra, launched the Green Tuesday Initiative at their Hitech City campus in Hyderabad. This event marked the beginning of a significant shift towards reducing animal product consumption, including meat, dairy, and eggs, in their cafeterias by 20% by introducing “Vegetarian Tuesdays.”

Launch of Green Tuesday Initiative Booklet

During an accreditation event on 15th August 2021 at the Hitech City campus, the Green Tuesday Initiative Booklet was officially launched, outlining the program’s objectives and expected outcomes.

September 28, 2021 – Expansion to North Zone Campuses

Following the successful launch in Hyderabad, the Green Tuesday Initiative quickly expanded. On September 28, representatives from Tech Mahindra’s Noida, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Chandigarh campuses gathered for a virtual accreditation ceremony, furthering the initiative’s reach. By the end of 2021, 13 campuses had adopted the Green Tuesday Initiative and replaced meat and dairy with plant-based options once a week on their cafeteria menu.

2022: Widening the Impact

Tech Mahindra Noida Campuses Join the Green Tuesday Initiative

In 2022, the Green Tuesday Initiative saw substantial growth. The 14th campus of Tech Mahindra in Noida adopted the initiative, demonstrating its commitment to reducing animal suffering. The Noida campuses were soon joined by the Pune and Bahadurpally campuses, collectively increasing the impact of our efforts to minimize animal exploitation.

2023: Sustained Growth

Tech Mahindra Pune Sharda Campus Comes Onboard

The momentum continued into 2023 with the addition of the Tech Mahindra Pune Sharda Campus. This campus played a crucial role in promoting plant-based food options among employees and reducing the overall consumption of animal products by inviting the Green Tuesday Initiative to conduct awareness sessions and streamline the implementation process.

2024: Reaching New Heights

Commitment Renewed for the 4th Consequent Year and Tech Mahindra Pune Hingewadi Campus Becomes 20th Campus to Come Aboard!

Our collaboration reached new heights in 2024 after the Tech Giant renewed its commitment to implement the Green Tuesday Initiative for another year. The Tech Mahindra Pune Hingewadi Campus became the newest campus to adopt the initiative. Now, our joint efforts extend to 20 campuses across seven locations, significantly reducing the consumption of meat and dairy products.

Achievements and Impact

Cumulative Animal Product Reduction:

• Chicken: 3,618,050 lb
• Eggs: 655,200 Nos.
• Paneer: 275,137 lb
• Milk: 9,231,228 fl oz

Events 

Reducing the consumption of animal products is crucial, as animal agriculture directly impacts climate change through greenhouse gas emissions, affects public health, and endangers biodiversity. Producing high-animal-product foods is resource-intensive, consuming significant water and land while contributing to deforestation and habitat loss.

Awareness activities are essential as they help spread critical information about the effects of animal agriculture on climate change, health, and sustainability. By raising awareness, we empower employees to make informed decisions that reduce animal exploitation and create a positive impact on the environment and their well-being.

“Reducing our reliance on animal products is essential for mitigating climate change and preserving biodiversity. Studies show that animal agriculture is responsible for significant greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally,  research from the University of Oxford highlights that shifting towards more plant-based diets can reduce food’s environmental impacts by up to 73%. By adopting policies that reduce animal product consumption, we can take meaningful steps towards a healthier planet and population,” said Bhavya Vatrapu, Senior Campaign Manager, India and Vietnam.

Tech Mahindra facilitated the following Green Tuesday Initiative events to raise awareness among employees: 

“Food Planet Health” Workshop

In September 2021, we organized a virtual “Food Planet Health” workshop for facility teams from Hyderabad, Noida, Gurgaon, Kolkata, and Chandigarh. This workshop addressed the interconnected issues of food, planetary health, and human well-being, promoting discussions on reducing animal exploitation through food choices.

Health Talk Session

In March 2023, Dr. Zeeshan Ali from the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine conducted a talk session on “Leading a Disease-Free, Healthy Life and Reversing Lifestyle Diseases through Diet” for employees at the Hitech City campus, emphasizing the health benefits of plant-based diets in March of 2023.

Green Tuesday Implementation Discussions

In June 2023, we organized interactive sessions with the Pune Sharda campus facility head to streamline the Green Tuesday Implementation and address operational challenges. 

Why Green Tuesday Initiative: A Refresher

We organized refresher sessions to ensure smooth implementation even with staff change. In July 2024, we organized a second refresher session with the center and facilities heads to update the new staff.  

Testimonial 

“Tech Mahindra is always at the forefront of taking sustainability and environment-related initiatives. From hosting plastic-free events to organizing the most extensive plantation drives, Tech Mahindra has always encouraged and inspired us to make an impact and keep doing more. By implementing vegetarian Tuesdays, we are taking one step forward in reducing our food-related carbon footprint and creating awareness about the food choices of employees. Next year, we will work with Vegan Outreach to implement this initiative on more campuses in other cities. Our team is also working to create a soulful, delicious alternative menu on Tuesdays.” 

– C V N Varma, Vice President – Corporate Services at Tech Mahindra (2001)

Our collaboration with Tech Mahindra demonstrates the powerful impact organizations can have when they commit to reducing animal suffering. The milestones achieved from 2021 to 2024 set a benchmark for other corporations to follow. As we continue to work towards a future with less animal exploitation, we look forward to achieving even greater milestones in the years to come.

For more information about the Green Tuesday Initiative and how your organization can make a positive impact on reducing animal suffering, please contact Bhavya Vatrapu, Senior Campaign Manager, India and Vietnam.

Email: [email protected]
Phone: +91 82910 43901

Join us in creating a compassionate future, one meal at a time.

About Green Tuesday Initiative:

Green Tuesday Initiative is a prolific campaign by Vegan Outreach (501c3 nonprofit in the USA) to help corporations and educational institutions reduce their environmental footprint by making small changes in the food they serve. Visit us at www.greentuesday.org 

Since 2016, Vegan Outreach has been working to end violence toward farmed animals in India. With the demand for meat and dairy rising in the country, we’ve been working to educate the masses on more compassionate food choices.

Starting with an international expansion tour, the India team has now grown to 10 staff and a country-wide volunteer network. From outreach and education programs in colleges to institutional campaigns, read on to know more about how we’re helping animals in India.

Inspiring thousands of students to go vegan

Vegan Outreach’s dedicated staff and volunteers conduct in-person and online outreach programs at over 3,215 colleges and high school campuses each year, as well as at festivals, fairs, and conventions in 28 states.

Our Adopt A College program involves interactive classroom presentations, showing virtual reality videos, and tabling with our persuasive booklets to raise awareness about the suffering of animals raised for food. We focus on reaching the people who are motivated enough to make changes now—of which there are always many in our target audience of college students.

Support for making changes

We conduct outreach with the aim of signing people up for our 10 Weeks to Vegan guided challenge. Everyone who signs up receives weekly emails or WhatsApp messages with easy recipes, product recommendations, nutrition information, and lots of motivation. The content is tailored for an Indian audience and available in both English and Hindi.

We also offer a free mentorship program for those who need one-on-one support in making the transition.

The Green Tuesday Initiative – A campaign to help institutions serve more plant-based food at cafeterias

In addition to in-person outreach, Vegan Outreach also runs the Green Tuesday Initiative, a campaign to help companies, educational institutions reduce their environmental footprint by introducing plant-based food policies.

So far, we’ve helped 53 educational institutions and corporate offices in India implement more sustainable food policies and reduce large quantities of animal products from their menus. Some of our recent victories include our latest success with Tech Mahindra which implemented the Green Tuesday Initiative at their newly opened campus in Pune to reduce their animal product consumption by up to 20%.

Read more about our latest campaign successes here.

Our impact in numbers

By steadily increasing the number of vegans we’re laying the groundwork to more quickly reach a tipping point. Here’s our success in numbers:

• 219,268 students signed up for our 10 Weeks to Vegan guided challenge.
• 3,152 colleges and high schools visited in 24 states.
• 219,074 students attended classroom presentations and attended webinars.
• 26,333 people watched virtual reality videos.
• 1,418,984 people reached with informative vegan leaflets.
• 53 universities, corporate offices, and hostels joined the Green Tuesday Initiative.

Excited to join the movement? Here’s how.

Our work is possible because of generous supporters. Make a donation today to help animals in India!

We also need dedicated volunteers to help us reach more students and community members to spare more animals from suffering. With just a few hours of your time, you can change several dozen students’ lives forever. Sign up via our Volunteer Form.

By Lori Stultz, Outreach Coordinator

With the fall semester right around the corner (or for you lucky students who are already in the full swing of attending classes and completing assignments), the Vegan Outreach crew wanted to send along a few helpful reminders for when you are taking a break from studying and getting out to leaflet! Whether it’s your first time, or you cannot remember how many times you have leafleted, these tips can make a positive difference on the number of booklets you hand out!

These tips come straight from the experienced leafleting pros here at Vegan Outreach!

The Best Time to Leaflet

Weekdays are best. 8 AM is usually the first class start time and it slows down around 3 PM. We realize 8 AM is early, but many of the larger schools are constantly leafleted and petitioned by other groups. Arriving early generally ensures you won’t have to compete for the students’ attention.

And if you only have an hour or two, we recommend lunchtime (11 AM–1 PM). Some schools, including many community colleges, continue to have a flow of student traffic past 5 PM.

Permission

Some schools allow leafleting by outsiders, while others do not. Public universities are supposed to allow it according to federal court decisions, but some do not follow such rules and others try to limit leafleting by requiring that you register and limiting where you can stand.

Many schools within cities provide a flow of students on public sidewalks where they can easily be handed a leaflet!

More info on the legal issues surrounding leafleting and what to do if you are stopped can be found on the page Legal Questions About Leafleting.

Where to Stand

At large schools, generally the most students will be found near the student union or library. However, it may be wise to try and find alternative spots to leaflet if the school is constantly leafleted or petitioned because students will be used to rejecting leafleters in these common spots.

At smaller schools, or schools that are not leafleted often, the busiest spots are often the best. Consider staking out a few different spots and rotating between them during busy class changes to reach the maximum number of new students.

Keep in mind that class changes yield the heaviest foot traffic. This is definitely your best time to make an impact!

While leafleting, it’s best not to stay completely stationary. A wider walkway may require you to constantly walk back and forth, approaching as many students as possible. It’s important to stand in the center of the walkway and not off to the side.

Keep in mind that the traffic flow will be going in two directions. You’ll reach the largest number of new students and avoid repeatedly asking the same students if you only leaflet one direction of the flow. If you’re starting very early in the day, you can focus on students going to class or just getting to campus. If you’re starting later in the day focus on students that are coming out of class and possibly leaving campus for the day.

What to Say

Vegan Outreach volunteers have found the following phrases to be effective:

• Help animals
• Info to help animals
• Info on compassionate eating
• Info against animal cruelty
• Brochure against factory farming
• Hello
• Info about where your food comes from
• Info on helping animals and the environment
• Did you get one of these? (especially for tough crowds!)

For a great video explanation of successful leafleting techniques, check out Vic Sjodin’s How to Leaflet? YouTube video.

Nervousness

Trust us, nervousness fades once you’ve offered the booklet to a few people. Don’t be too concerned about knowing every tiny detail about factory farming, the most current investigation, or every philosophical argument for and against vegetarianism. The majority of students will simply accept a booklet and say thank you or decline a booklet and say no thank you anyway. Very few will engage you in conversation and even fewer will grill you on facts. If you don’t know the answer to a question, it’s much better to admit you don’t know than to try and make up something you may have heard. The point is not to win an argument but to get a booklet in their hands and for them to have a positive image of you as a person and your message of compassion.

Our Most Important Tip: Have Fun!

Remember that one person can make a huge difference! The people you leaflet will likely pass information on to others, causing a chain reaction. Even better, if you have a buddy or two (or three or four) to get out and leaflet with you it will guarantee a larger number of people reached and make the time spent leafleting more enjoyable.

Leafleting is generally a very rewarding experience! Who wouldn’t smile knowing that you’re making a positive impact for both animals and people alike?

In the previous quarter, heat waves in India and the El Niño event reminded us that the climate is changing rapidly. However, we also encountered numerous individuals who, like us, are committed to positively impacting the fight against climate change by choosing a vegan lifestyle. Here are some key highlights from the last quarter.

More than 80% of our GT Partners Renewed Their Pledges!

This World Environment Day, our existing Green Tuesday Initiative partners pledged to continue their fight against climate change by reducing animal product consumption. More than 80% of institutions and organizations that implemented the Green Tuesday Initiative have renewed their pledges and agreed to continue inspiring their employees to eat plant-based food to reduce their food-related carbon footprint.

Awareness webinars organized at TATA Power.

Highlights of last quarter:

• Hetero Limited has been a Green Tuesday Initiative partner since 2019. They renewed another year of partnership as a commitment to food sustainability, continuing to serve meat-free meals daily across their campuses.
• TATA Power joined the Green Tuesday Initiative. As part of the World Environment Month celebration, they served plant-based food throughout June. To kick off the campaign, we conducted a webinar on “Fighting Climate Change with Diet Change,” which drew over 75 engineers from their Dharavi campus.
• We welcomed SRM University to the Green Institute Initiative.
  • SRM’s Hotel Management Department will reduce their use of animal products by 2,268 kgs/5,000 pounds of chicken, 22,680 eggs, 3,780 kgs/8,333 pounds of paneer (cottage cheese), and 11,340 liters of milk annually.
  • They also added a module on vegan cooking to their catering curriculum. This will help 1,000+ hotel management students to learn vegan cooking.
  • SRM Institute’s Kattankulathur hostel will reduce their use of animal products by 10,080 kgs/22,223 pounds of chicken, 100,800 eggs, and 50,400 liters of milk annually along with adding plant-based options every day.

In June, we achieved a notable milestone, reaching 51% of our annual goal. This accomplishment translates to a reduction of 255,300 kgs/562,840 pounds of animal products.

Awareness webinars organized at TATA Power.

We Are Halfway Through Our Goals!

We are excited to share that more than 30,000 students signed up for the 10 Weeks to Vegan program in the first half of 2024. Here are some key highlights from the last quarter:

• 11,822 students signed up for the 10 Weeks to Vegan program last quarter.
• 239 colleges participated in the Food Planet Health webinars.
• 56 webinars were organized.

We also organized one of the biggest webinars in the last quarter with the Industrial Training Institute, Tarsali, Vadodara, where 1,132 students from different departments participated and learned about speciesism.

Left: One of our Food Planet Health sessions at CSK Himachal Pradesh Agriculture University. Right: Our Outreach Coordinator, Nija Dhillon, conducting a Food Planet Health session at ITI, Tarsali.

A Special Thank You!

Our achievements in helping animals and inspiring thousands to go vegan wouldn’t be possible without our incredible supporters. We would like to give a special shout-out to our incredible supporter Yvonne. Her unwavering support empowers us to do more for animals. Thank you, Yvonne, for your dedication and generosity.

Join Us in Making a Difference!

Our journey is far from over, and we need your support to continue making a difference. Your donations help us reach more institutions, educate more people, and save more animals. Every contribution, no matter how small, makes a significant impact.

Become a monthly sustainer.

With Gratitude,

Richa Mehta

Recipe by Lena, 10 Weeks to Vegan, Japan Consultant

Ingredients:

• 2 cups of chilled tomato juice
• 1 tbsp of chilled coconut cream
• Salt to taste
• Drizzle of oil (olive, coconut, flax, hemp, etc.) (optional)
• Nutritional yeast (optional)
• Vegan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. Pour tomato juice into your favorite bowl.
2. Mix in coconut cream and salt to taste.
3. Top with oil, nutritional yeast, or vegan cheese.