Green Grenades: Creating Bundles of Eco-Restoration and Growth

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The Raahgiri Foundation was founded with the mission to "transform urban mobility and create livable, accesible, and equitable cities through data insights, safe & sustainable infrastructure, and collaboration." They host Sundays on Cycle, encouraging citizens to choose eco-friendly methods and promoting fitness for all. This Sunday, 27th of July, they hosted it in the Inner Circle of Connaught Place, Delhi, in celebration of Kargil Vijay Diwas.

I volunteered as part of the GuruJal team, the NGO who I am extremely grateful to for acclererating my sustainability journey to another level. They helped me immensely on my water conservation project, as talked about in my article "Your Daily Drop," and gave me the wonderful opportunity to participate in the Urban Adda 2025, and this Raahgiri Day as a part of their team. They shared with me the valuable skill of how to make SEED BOMBS, laddoo-sized balls made of soil and manure, housing impeccable agents of growth. Seeds. To promote native species and eco-restoration, we made seed bombs, or green grenades, with jamun and mango seeds.

A lot of visitors participating in the event became a part of our journey, creating seed balls of their own, and taking them home, contributing in a small way to increase the forest cover of our very own state Haryana, which has only 3.53% forest area. Are you ready to join this mission too?

To make a green grenade, you need very few materials - a bag of soil, a bit of nutrient-rich manure, some seeds of any fruit or plant (preferably native species that would be perfect for our Aravallis' ecosystem), and a will to restore!

1. First, take a chunk of soil (depending on the size of your seed), in any quantity of your choice, but it should wrap around the seed completely, having a medium-thick layer around it.

2. Next, add manure in a 30% ratio to 70% soil.

3. Mix it well with your hands.

4. Next, add a bit of water, enough to bind the soil properly into a proper ball, but not too much water, as it must dry out before plantation, and could damage the seed.

5. Now, that your grenade is ready, it's time to add the explosive charge. Make a small hole with your finger, and insert the seed of your choice.

6. Cover the seed up fully, and shape it into a ball shaped piece, ready to be launched and explode with greenery.

7. Lastly, find a place which you feel can use more plants and trees, throw your green grenade, and wait, as it's a-forestation awesomeness unfolds!

   
   

But how do these green-ades help the planet? Well, in the monsoon season, it is extremely beneficial to use these, as the natural rainwater will be an excellent catalyst for growth. GuruJal places these balls in various forest locations in the Aravallis, areas which lack greenery and trees. These seeds require very minimum care after activation, because the soil they are encased in encompasses all sorts of important nutrients for the seed to grow (we even spotted a farmer's best friend - an earthworm in one of them!). They then grow, absorbing the minerals and water around them, and depending on how long it takes for each seed, they can even turn into full-fledged trees over time!

More native species and trees would significantly improve the Aravallis' and Harayana's ecological health, mitigate climate change, foster biodiversity, and provide as a valuable step in eco-restoration and a-forestation. This just shows: greenery, positivity, growth, development, a better world - all starts with a small seed.