Over the past year, we’ve thronged the Farmers’ Market, signed up for organic supper clubs and embraced eco-friendly shops and labels; all signs that green is the new black. This week, two city-based, ecology-focused organisations, Mocha Treehuggers (a community of nature lovers started by the coffee chain) and The Root will remind us of this fact via the Eco Fest, a week-long series of events to mark World Environment Day, which falls on June 5.
Mocha Mojo, the nationwide chain’s kitsch-filled outpost in Bandra, will serve as the venue for the festivities that will be held from Wednesday, June 1 to Tuesday, June 7. All through that week, it will serve an all-day organic menu that will include ginger lemonade, ice tea, garlic and broccoli pasta, egg salad in herb panini, bistro garlic fries, and bread pudding. On Friday, June 3, the coffee shop will host a panel discussion on “Urban Environment—Threats, Challenges and Opportunities” featuring eco-nutrionist Kavita Mukhi, architect Kaiwan Mehta, environmental journalist Darryl D’Monte and Rahul Srivastava of urban development think tank Urbz.
Two of the highlights of the Eco Fest will take place on Saturday, June 4. At 8am, architect Zameer Basrai, whose firm The Busride has devised a project for the conservation of Ranwar Village, will help conduct a heritage walk around the villages of Ranwar, Chimbai and Sherly-Rajan; then, at 6pm, The Laya Project, an acclaimed documentary on the music of the communities affected by the tsunami that struck South Asia in 2004, will be screened at Mocha Mojo.
On Sunday, you can shop for green goods at the Eco Bazaar where you can pick up clothes as well as fashion and home accessories by The Root, Clean Planet, Do U Speak Green, Matsya, Neil Dantas, No Nasties and Forty Red Bangles, between 10am to 6pm. A number of indie rock bands are also scheduled to perform during the bazaar though no names were confirmed at the time of publication. See the Eco Fest Facebook Event for further details. Call Hanisha Lalwani on 91677 27782 to register for the heritage walk.
Mocha Mojo
Classic Corner Building
Next to Holy Family Hospital
Hill Road
Bandra (West)
Phone: 022-2643 3098
